The Writer Games
by College Fool
Summary: (Oneshot anthology of a unique sort.) It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up within 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.
1. Weapon

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Authors Note:

So what is this?

This is a product of collaboration, introspection, and deep consideration of... oh, sod it. This is what you get when two geeks like thinking up stories as much or more than writing them.

Hi. This is College Fool. That's Coeur Al'Alran. If you don't know us, we're a pair of RWBY fanfic writers with a particular focus on Jaune. I won't get into the why, but it's been a point of a long and enduring PM exchange we've had appropriately titled 'Non-badass Jaune fics,' because we both like the well-written Jaune stories where Jaune works through his weakness, rather than is OP from the start or gets OP semblances. But, like Coeur sometimes says, if you want good fanfics you like, sometimes you've got to think of them yourself.

(Actually, he doesn't say that- he's got good grammar- but something along those lines.)

Recently, instead of just sharing ideas we might never write, we started playing a game of producing ideas under pressure. One of us gives a prompt- the other has to try to plan a story in 15 mins. That's... pretty tough, actually. Sometimes it's good, and you'll wish we actually intended to write it. Sometimes it's so bad, you won't believe that we're the ones who came up with it. It's informal, rushed, and that's the point because it keeps it fun and occasionally silly.

Now we're posting it here. Kinda a reflection of the Ghost Jaune stories we have going: I like planning more than writing, Coeur likes writing more than planning, but we're both doing both.

I'll let Coeur speak on the next update tomorrow, but here's your first taste.

-C.F.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune Arc's semblance is so dangerous, that before he came to Beacon, he accidentally killed his father in a spar.

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Concept: Weapon

Jaune wanted to be a strong warrior- but his semblance is too strong to be trusted. After killing his own family by accident, a young Jaune falls into the hands of General Ironwood- where he straddles the line between being raised a person, or a weapon.

Beat 1 – The Hook – Why the protagonist needs/wants romance.

Jaune manifests his semblance after his Father agrees to train him- and promptly proceeds to accidentally kill his family. Jaune's semblance is effectively an indisicriminate aura-based poison gas: 'if it breaths, he can die.' Great for killing people-useless against Grimm without aura.

Beat 2 – The Meeting – The two characters meet and an attraction, or reason for one, is established.

After awakening, Jaune is a national security issue: too dangerous to let near the Kingdoms, he's almost killed. Instead he falls into the hands of General Ironwood, who sees him as a potential asset for protecting Remnant if his powers can be controlled. Young Jaune is taken into a quarantine lab... where he meets his fellow subject, Penny.

Beat 3 – Conflict Point 1 – Wherein the protagonist realises they should not be together, as it conflicts with their goal/dream/beliefs.

Jaune is afraid of connecting with Penny for fear that she'll be hurt if he loses control of his aura. Penny is hiding that she's a robot (prototype). However, they're the only friends that the each have- the only other person who interacts with Jaune without a hazmat suit is Ironwood himself.

Beat 4 – Raising the stakes – Wherein the two characters are bound together, despite the conflict. They accept their love/relationship/attraction.

Jaune and Penny discover the things about eachother and become very close. Penny, as a robot, doesn't breath and so isn't affected by Jaune's semblance. Jaune is so desperate for contact he doesn't mind Penny. Though Ironwood is cautious, he lets the two be people.

Beat 5 – Conflict Point 2 – The relationship looks good, all is working, but there is niggling doubt. The conflict continues to gnaw away at them, it's a false happiness.

Penny is Jaune's keeper when Jaune is finally trusted enough to be allowed into Vale, the first time he's been in public in years. Jaune and Penny meet Ruby and team ala Penny's encounter.

Both Penny and Jaune are stunted, and get some laughs, but make a tentative friendship with Team RWBY.

Beat 6 – The Black Moment – It all goes wrong, all hope is lost. The relationship seems doomed.

During the docks, Jaune is captured during the effort to save Blake. The entier Kingdom goes into a crisis as it's realized that the White Fang now has its hands on something that could destroy the entire city. Jaune is exposed, and considered a weapon to be disposed of rather than a person to be saved.

Penny spends the Ball miserable, trying for anything to find Jaune.

Beat 7 – Resolution – Obstacles overcome, romance achieved, or tragic ending.

The Breach is altered by the White Fang so that Jaune is the payload- they intend to forcibly activate his semblance in the city, killing thousands.

Penny and Team RWBY, from a tip by Cinder (who doesn't like how White Fang has abandoned her plans), lead a strike against the team to recover Jaune.

Ultimately Jaune activates his semblance in the train- and thanks to training, Jaune's semblance goes from 'poison gas' to 'sleeping gas', allowing a nearly bloodless resolution. Jaune is recovered, and put into an extreme quarantine- but Penny is with him, and Team RWBY spreads the word about how what he did helped stop the Breach.

The story ends with Jaune unsure of when/if he'll ever be able to leave again, but reunited with Penny. He (and Penny) are publicly seen as people- not weapons- and Ironwood promises them that if they're able to help stop Cinder and save the world in the upcoming conflict, he'll be able to let them go as free people.

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Coeur's Impression:

When I originally gave the prompt I imagined two different scenarios:

1) That any other writer would have some over-the-top semblance that would leave Jaune in a near-unbeatable state.  
2) That College Fool wouldn't force me to read through that tripe.

I'm glad to see I was proven correct. The semblance, while powerful, is indiscriminate - giving it a very real consequence that many writers miss out on. If you want a character to have a supernatural edge, then it needs to come with real world costs - otherwise it is difficult to justify why they don't use it to solve every problem. Gas is quite the nice touch as it had a lot of negative connotations for readers as well as people in the series. Like fire, gas does not judge or choose - it simply affects.

Jaune as a weapon is a common theme, but it's nice to see it being treat like it might in real life, that is to say - never intentionally used. Many fics make the mistake of assuming a weapon is constantly drawn and thrown at the enemy - see any Naruto fic, but that's not always the case. The US and Russia have been sitting on nukes for decades now, and no doubt every country has more weapons they haven't mentioned. Due to Jaune's potential for absolute genocide, if he were to be used by Ironwood, it would no doubt lead instantly to the next Kingdom War.

Penny is a nice touch as a friendship option due to her immunity to the poison, and similarly it's good that Jaune doesn't recognise this immediately. It would have been easy to introduce her as a cyborg and have Jaune bond with her, but she has shown in series that she does not want that admitting, so sticking to that keeps this in character.

This fic also offers some nice potential for Ironwood to be fleshed out as a character, and though it's not really mentioned, I'd have liked to see him as somewhat kind and fatherly, but also coldly efficient. In that he wants the best for Jaune, and tries to help him, - hence introducing him to Penny. But that when Jaune is captured, he is willing to make the tough decision to kill Jaune, though he does feel regret at having to make it. Someone who knows that they must do, but wishes they did not have to. Sometimes the bravest men are simply those who act where others might seek to delegate responsibility.

Overall a good plot, if rushed. My own approach might have been a Jaune emotionally crippled from killing his father - a man afraid to use his own weapon. So that in an amusing role reversal, he kind of is trained and strong coming into Beacon, but due to a fear of his own abilities he is always holding himself back, leaving himself as weak and unconfident as he is in canon. But overall, this worked well too.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

A PM exchange that started with being fed up about OP Jaune semblances... and what was the first prompt in our game? Ah, the irony.

'Protagonist raised as a weapon' is a cliche in fandoms that's used to justify radical personality change and OP kick-ass- usually the 'I was raised a perfect soldier, love my angst'- so this was my take on that, in the spirit of 'try and do it well yourself rather than just haste it.' Still got angst, still got personality change, but here you have a case where Jaune's not a dominating badass (or rather- too powerful to use), and Jaune's personality is something that you could see as re-emerging through the healing. And looking back- I like the fundamentals here. Penny, the Real Girl/Robot Girl/Military Superweapon, was the appropriate foil and co-lead, since she could (a) relate to the dehumanizing aspect of being raised/treated a weapon rather than a person, (b) to the isolating effect of power, and (c) had a good reason for not being affected by Jaune's semblance.

The idea of Jaune's semblance being some sort of poison gas was two-fold: a musing of my own about 'what would be the most OP combat semblance,' while thinking that aura can't stop people from breathing or else it'd suffocate everyone, and the character C.C. from the anime Code Geass. If you don't know her- C.C. is an person with supernatural powers who was locked inside a military capsule that was stolen by terrorists who thought it was poison gas. It fit the idea both of how seriously Jaune would be kept by the authorities... and the dynamic with White Fang by the end.

While I agree with Coeur that Ironwood is under-utilized in the summary, my main regret is that I couldn't think of how to get Jaune into the Ball. In retrospect, I would re-jigger the timeline a bit- let Jaune and Penny be friends with RWBY post-Docks for some time, develop them as friends and people, before letting Jaune get kidnapped during Blake's White Fang investigation arc (which would be after the ball). After a romantic high point of Jaune and Penny admitting they're not just together, but together together, follow it with Blake/RWBY angst for getting someone caught up in Blake's obsession. It'd give the supporting cast development, give Ironwood reason to let RWBY help find Jaune to save him, and spread the word afterwards.

Overall, a decent effort- with the limitations reflecting the time crunch. One of the only ones that I planned and typed in the 15 min window- you'll notice my drafts get longer.

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Final Notes/Rules

To ward off some questions, before we get swamped in PMs-

-Yes, feel free to take any prompt or plot here. General writer etiquette applies: give us a heads up, mention in your story, and treat with respect. But yeah- these are ideas we don't intend to write.

-No, we aren't looking for prompts, so please don't spam us with PMs about your 'really great idea.'

You can leave a review, and it might even be good, but it probably won't work out as you want. Not only do people get weird ideas that being entitled to share an idea means we're obligated to play our game around them, but we aren't guaranteed to take it in a direction you want. Nor do we beg prompts from eachother- if one of us likes a prompt enough, they'd be giving it to the person less interested.

There **_may_** be an invitation for review input in the future, once we work through backlog... but it'll be in the vein of 'theme week,' rather than 'give us a plot.' If the theme is, say 'Highschool,' then we'll each give a prompt based on it. (Note: Don't ask for highschool.)

-If you want to play this game, feel free. If you want to play the game with us... sorry, but we're not looking to be plot generators for everyone who wants a fill. We have our own loads, IRL and fanfic, to handle- and the more we spend on numerous requests, the less we do on everything else. Including this.


	2. Taiyang is Jaune

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Intro Note:

The prompt is a weird one because we know nothing of Summer or Raven, and this was also my example to CF on how to play the game, so the goal was to get all the different points of a story-line addressed. One of my problems with time travel fics is that people often just reveal straight away they are from the future - and everyone seems to accept it. Sometimes they will come up with a really week rationale like: "Oh I used a password only they knew" or something - as though hackers, espionage and such doesn't exist...

Instead I decided to throw two examples forward which look at how else you could take that. One with it being found out later, and one with Jaune selfishly choosing never to reveal it. It's never answered - and need it be? If you went back into time and took over another's body, would you reveal what happened, losing everything you have? I can't help but think we would try to make a life for ourselves, and one that we could live. And that's where I wanted to go with the Raven story.

It's selfish. But why should Jaune not be selfish?

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College Fool's Prompt – "Taiyang Xiao Long is time-traveling Jaune Arc from the future."

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Romance 7 - beats  
Jaune x Summer

Jaune Arc travels to the past in an attempt to save the love of his life - Ruby Rose. However he instead ends up in a world he barely even recognizes, in a body not his own. With children... oh my God...

Beat 1 - Jaune travels into the past and wakes up in a new body. Things are different, there is a warm body beside him. He thinks it is Ruby and rolls over to snuggle her, falling asleep with her in his arms. It's not Ruby.

Beat 2 - Wake up the next day, Jaune is in an absolute panic, as he sees what looks like an older - and somewhat different Ruby bustling around the house. She kisses him goodbye as she heads on a mission, leaving him with his daughters. Jaune slowly comes to realise what is happening as he bounces his three year-old daughter Yang on his knee, as Ruby sleeps in a crib.

Beat 3 - Jaune Xiao-Long accepts that he needs to make the best of what is happening, and recounts everything he knows about Ruby and Yang's past, hoping he can improve it to give the woman he loves, and one of his best friends - a better chance at life. This is awkward however as Summer is not his girlfriend, and being intimate with her feels odd. Summer senses his nervousness, and thinks something is wrong with her - the relationship becomes strained.

Beat 4 - Summer heads on the mission of her death, and when Ruby starts crying and won't stop, he gets nervous. He calls Qrow and tells him to look after the kids, while he rushes to the area the mission was in. He arrives in time to save Summer's life, though he loses an arm for the effort. Summer and her team are able to get him back, while she rants at him for being so foolish. Jaune says he can't afford to lose her, she thinks he means romantically, kissing him. He means Ruby and Yang cant afford to lose her.

Beat 5 - Summer is at home more now, recovering and looking after the kids until Jaune is healthy enough to do so on his own - and has learned to be okay with one arm. The relationship is a little stronger now, but Jaune still feels awful for sleeping with her when he doesn't love her. He slowly begins to feel attracted to her however, as the shows her loving maternal side, Summer loves Ruby and Yang so much that he can't help but love her for that.

Beat 6 - Somehow Jaune's past as a traveller is revealed, he fails on basic knowledge - Summer can tell he is different, hell, he acts completely different from how Taiyang did! She is furious, believing herself played - and her husband, dead. In a rage she attacks him, but is stopped when Yang sees them, whispering "Mummy?" nervously as she seeks Summer looking like she is going to kill Taiyang. Summer flees, horrified with herself.

Beat 7 - Jaune hunts Summer down, finding her at the same place her grave is at in canon. She is contemplating throwing herself from the cliff. Jaune begs her not to, and after a long conversation and some emotional turnaround - involving Jaune telling her how he has come to love her, she relents. The two of them go home to raise a family together.

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Alternative!

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Jaune x Raven

1- Jaune goes back in time, finds himself in adult Taiyang. But it's worse, his daughters are at Beacon currently, and are even somewhat distant with him. They care for him, but push away his attempts to get close to them. Instead he decides to save them by taking down the White Fang, sparing them the agony from the WF and Cinder.

2- Jaune attacks a White Fang base, causing major casualities. He is more experienced, and efficient than his younger form - and Taiyang's body (and semblance - same as Yang's) making him a potent force. He is stopped by a black-haired masked woman, who fights him off with a nodachi. He is injured, but she lets him escape to his confusion.

3 - Yang and Ruby come to see him in hospital, berating him for getting injured. Fear of losing him has thawed their attitude a little, though it is still distant somewhat. Jaune makes excuses for himself, and when Ozpin tries to interrogate him - he simply says he is doing what he has to, and won't hear otherwise from Ozpin. Qrow comes to him afterwards, saying he too has been hunting the Fang, and that if Jaune wants help... Jaune takes him up on it, and the two dig deeper into the Fang - tangentially getting involved in the RWBY plot. I.e. he shows at the dock scene to hold off Roman. He cannot ever seem to get too far however, before the black-haired woman stops him.

4 - In one fight Qrow sees her and calls Raven by name, leading the woman to flee. Jaune pretends to recognise the name, and later finds out it was his first wife - and Yang's mother. He wonders if that is why she keeps letting him escape? He tries to dig deeper, hunting for her and drawing her out by attacking White Fang. Their fights become less serious, more taunts and showmanship.  
She even goes so far as to invade his home one night and confront him. Jaune asks her why she is doing this, why she abandoned him and their daughter. She seems troubled, but won't answer.  
Towards the end of this Arc the two sleep together once, both seeking comfort after the Breach incident, which Raven did not want to happen. It was Cinder's plan, she says.

5 - Troubles continue between the Fang/Cinder and the goodies - with Raven and Jaune's growing relationship becoming ever more strained by Raven's allegiance to the Fang. Despite that they try to keep it going in secret, small kisses - secret trysts. It's passionate and desperate, but weighed down by the uncertainty.

6 - A war erupts, with them on different sides. Jaune eventually comes across team RWBY fighting Raven, who is doing her best not to kill any of them - but is losing for that very effort. Jaune thinks that it looks like she WANTS to lose, dying so that she doesn't have to see a world where her daughter and husband are killed. He interrupts, defending Raven, to RWBY's horror.  
He explains Raven is Yang's mother, and his first wife, and that he won't allow them to hurt her - she has surrendered, and is his prisoner. Yang won't have it, wanting to know why they were abandoned. Raven says she wanted to help the faunus, but the excuse doesn't please Yang - who in a rage tries to punch her with all her power. Jaune takes the blow, feeling it cause incredible damage to his ribcage. Yang and Ruby scream his name as his vision fades, and his pulse weakens.

7 - Story resolves as Jaune awakens ina hospital ICU - the war ended with a loss for Cinder's side. Raven surrendered and as a favour to him, Ozpin vouched for her as a double agent, granting her freedom. She is at his bedside, with Yang and Ruby. The family have a heart-to-heart chat, things aren't perfect - Yang and Raven are "getting on" but still rough. Jaune thinks it will all work out however, and smiles to himself as he considers that his second life really isn't all that bad.

Again, rough - would be more fleshed. I.e. more interaction between Jaune Xiao-Long and RWBY characters and team.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Here's where the limitations of our game really come into play- Coeur is a lot better at writing within the timelimit than me, but you can see the limitations of not having time to explain yourself or think things through. Even though both of these would obviously get a lot more fleshed out in execution, there's big lingering question marks… like, 'where's the real Taiyang?', 'why don't the ladies seem to care?', and 'why is timetravel and body-swapping so irrelevant to the plot?' In both scenarios, Jaune ends up in a pre-established relationship. There are women who love Taiyang- and Jaune slides with no one the wiser.

Of the two, the Summer scenario is my favored- not least because it actually addresses the issue. Jaune's prior relationship to Ruby is a good starting hook with Summer and going along with the deception in hopes of giving Ruby a better life, while canonical Taiyang's 'recovering from grief' period offers an (unstated) rational for Summer excusing the character changes. She's been trying to heal a hurt man she was in love with, and now he's responding, and she likes what she sees. It's a good romantic tension- especially if/as Jaune does grow closer to Summer- and Beat 6 was a good example of fallout.

But Beat 7 was where it falls short. Jaune's time-traveling nature is never raised or addressed, Summer never learns that she's slept with her baby daughter's future husband, the suicide dilemma is questionable, and Summer's never given a reason to be attracted to Jaune rather than projecting Taiyang. But the end point- of resolving to try to reconcile and returning to raise Ruby and Yang together, rather than abandoning them to a broken household- I think that was a good endpoint.

My suggestion for getting there? Don't have Jaune and Summer get back together romantically. At least not in the story itself. Have the truth. Have the weirdness of Summer having slept with her daughter's future husband be too much. But also have the admission of interest/respect in both directions: Jaune likes the maternal side of Summer, and not just because it reminds him of Ruby. And Summer realizes that the 'healing' Taiyang she liked, the one who cared for the children and was being a father- that wasn't Taiyang, but it was really Jaune. So maybe the weirdness is too much to carry on as they were- but the affection is genuine- and they compromise. Jaune (and Summer) vow to look for Taiyang by looking into the how or why Jaune came back in time- with the possible end-state of Jaune returning and getting Taiyang back. But in the meantime- because that might be a hopeless task- they return together to raise the girls in the meantime, and maybe one day… maybe one day there will be something honest between them. That's a solid conclusion.

The Raven scenario is a lot weaker- at least in terms of the story being a prompt about Jaune as a time traveler. There's almost nothing about Jaune's character, or backstory pre-time travel to get to the point he is in canon, or, again, addressing the time-travel dynamic. Which is funny, considering Coeur's and my differences on using time shenanigans in 'A Common Criminal or Something.' If you use time travel, it needs to be important and relevant and addressed… and for this, it isn't even raised. I thought Coeur forgot about it, honestly. It's not that it's a bad story- it's just that Jaune, lacking characterization or anything familiar, doesn't even need to be called Jaune. It could be anyone. Even just Taiyang- or Taiyang with memory problems- or Taiyang never having had the memories at all.

When you get down to it, Taiyang could be his own time traveler in this piece- from the past into the future- with his period of falling apart not being a matter of grief, but the time travel gap. That could have been the premise of Raven's disappearance- it's not that Raven left, and Taiyang fell apart, but that Taiyang fell apart, and Raven left to find him again. Taiyang pops back into the present, and has to deal with the family he (and his wife) were absent for.

Why didn't we think of that from the start? Oh, right- 15 mins planning and first impressions.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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Fifteen minutes is too short a time to write out a full plot, especially with one hand - instead all you can do is to work out the order of scenes as they happen, the big plot events and how they interact with one another.

The Summer x Jaune plot was to show an existing relationship breaking down. Beats 5-7 would have been very long in this, delving into the pain Summer feels upon realising the man she loved is dead, and the guilt she also feels at not hating the man who took his place. But instead having come to like Jaune too. On the other hand, Jaune has his own guilt, firstly for what he believes is cheating on Ruby - but also for lying to Summer and taking advantage of her.

The breakdown of the relationship in beat 3-4 needs length to show the different stages, and the ways they try to stick together. I wanted a real sense of "staying together for the kids" in those stages, with their love reaffirmed when Jaune saves Summer - only to come crashing down once she realises he isn't the real Taiyang. Before ending on a tentative romance for the future, that they don't know - they're shy teenagers almost again. But they're determined to make it work.

Beat 7 is rushing due to having around 30 seconds left, but would need fleshing out. A better ending might be Summer looking to take out her frustrations on Grimm, ending with her getting in over her head. Her aura is low and she bleeds out, red like roses staining snow. From there Jaune could find her, carrying her home and helping her recover. I'd like it to end on a note of promise or possibility. With her asking things such as "You're not Taiyang." "What happened to him?" "Was your love for our children fake?" "What about me?" Before ultimately she never says she accepts him, but when he stands to leave she grabs his hand. "Stay... please."

"Of course."

As for Jaune x Raven, on that front I wanted to look at what time travel would be like if it wasn't long enough to make a big difference. Jaune hasn't gone back far enough to save Summer, or train Yang and Ruby - in fact he is stuck in a person ill-respected by others, unable to change anything because he can't interact with beacon, and Yang/Ruby love him in a sense, but it's muted due to Taiyang's break down.

Ironically that is something Raven faces as well. At least in my mind. She has been gone so long that she can't really come back, not easily at any rate. The two of them both want to reacquaint with Yang and Ruby, albeit for different reasons - but both are scared and uncertain on how to do so. And ironically both choose the same way to handle it.

Don't.

Raven goes off and helps the White Fang, Jaune Xiao-Long goes off to stop the White Fang, both thinking "Oh if i make the world a better place, they won't be hurt." but both failing to actually have the guts to go and apologise and try to explain.

Similarly I wanted to show a developing romance between enemies who are actively at war - and not in that stereotypical "injured and healed" or "captured" trope - but by them coming to enjoy their fights so much that they keep sparing one another, hunting each other. Getting the blood boiling through combat and adrenaline, before finally giving in and ravishing each other.

Does Jaune ever reveal his past? No. He is more selfish, to his mind Taiyang failed in his original time, and is destined to fail again. If he doesn't want to live his life then Jaune will do it for him, morality be damned. Similarly Raven has been gone so long from Taiyang (at least 15-16 years) that her attraction has to be built from the start again. She isn't going to jump him "because" he is Taiyang, it's been too long for that - that romance is cold and possibly dead.

The plot outline ended with "Realises that this life isn't so bad after all." To highlight the fact that he has come to accept this new life as his own, and is committed to living it for himself and for the first time since he came back, not for others. Originally he planned to hunt and if needs be, die against the Fang, to save his friends. But now he has come to find it is as much a chance for him as anyone else.


	3. No Home But Your Own

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune gets lost as a child, and is picked up by Raven Branwen, who assumes he is an unwanted child.

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Concept: No Home But Your Own

Jaune gets lost as a child and is found by Raven, who assumes him unwanted and takes him where he should be safe. It's still not home, and so Jaune keeps looking for a family he increasingly barely remembers... even as he finds the most important people of his future.

Meta-concept:

Raven finds Jaune. Drops him off with somewhere he should be safe and good. Jaune ends up leaving, trying to find his own family, and Raven drops him off somewhere else. Each time she does, Jaune finds a member of Team JNPR/RWBY.

(God, trying to explain this is harder than the idea. Not quite a series of shorts, but basically a phased journey experience. Planning took 10 mins. Rest is writing.)

Phase One: Jaune

Jaune gets lost one day, separated from his mother. Raven finds him. Raven isn't interested in caring for him herself, since she's busy on her Super Important family-abandonment quest, but she has pity. Thinking him unwanted, Raven takes Jaune to an orphanage.

The dynamic between Jaune and Raven is 'pitiful child' and 'concerned stranger.'

Phase 2: Blake

Jaune gets more or less dropped at the first orphanage Raven sees. It's a poor, mixed-race orphanage. Jaune meets fellow, recently-orphaned Blake.

Jaune and Blake are defiant trouble-makers together, each insisting that they're families are still out there and they shouldn't be there. The fact that everyone disagrees drives them closer together. They bond over things like books, and Jaune being too young to understand racism is a plus. He gets drawn into supporting Blake's pro-White Fang idealism, with the idea that if he's on the news at a protest, their parents will see them.

After months, though, tension starts. Blake accepts that her family is gone, and starts to dedicate herself to the White Fang. Jaune doesn't give up his hope, and friction starts between the friends.

The two are split when a peaceful protest goes out of hand. In the human violence that follows, Jaune and Blake are separated. The orphanage is burned in the riot, the faunus are run off, and Jaune is alone and isolated once again.

Raven finds him once more. Deciding a poor orphanage isn't good, and talking to Jaune about how his family was one that fought in the war, Raven pulls some strings for Jaune to go somewhere with more structure.

Phase Three: Pyrrha

Jaune is dropped off at the Sanctum. Sanctum child care services are, shall we say, spartan, and it's little more than a military training academy for child soldiers expected to grow up to fight for the kingdom. It's a legacy of the militaristic culture that fell during the color revolution.

Jaune hates it. Hates the forced structure, the lack of fun, but most of all that no one believes him. Most people just think he's making up stories about his family, and he's quickly isolated.

The one thing that makes it bearable is a young Pyrrha. Pyrrha is an over-achiever, the 'work hard because you're told to work hard,' by the books 'ideal' student. She finds Jaune's rebelliousness incomprehensible- but his undisciplined chaos, and his tendency to dream and fantasize, fascinating. She's broken out of her unthinking rigid mindset, and begins to question why she wants to succeed.

Ultimately Pyrrha finds a reason through friendship with Jaune and believing him about his family. When Jaune tries to run away, Pyrrha covers for him- an act of defiance unthinkable months earlier- and they part with a promise as friends. Pyrrha promises that, if she's ever able to win the Championship, she'll dedicate it to him and try to use the fame to help find his family.

Jaune runs away. He's found by Raven. Raven decides that, if an institution wasn't working, she'll have to find him a family herself. A well-off one would be best, right?

Phase 4: Weiss

Jaune arrives to the Schnees in a clamor: Raven teleports in, drops him off, and leaves him as security guards mobilize. It is, shall we say, less than a warm reception.

Mr. Schnee is less than interested in a sudden adoption. Fortunately, Jaune doesn't want it. He just wants to find his family. The Schnees have the resources for that, and in a good-will/public affairs story to be, Jaune is a guest as the Schnee estate while they look for the right Arcs.

Jaune falls to the attentions of Winter and Weiss between their studies, which he's invited to partake in. He's their burden at first (as the dumb student), an entertainment next (as the amusing dunce), and gradually a friend- Weiss's first in quite some time.

Jaune and Weiss don't so much hit it off as have a free-wheeling relationship of frequent offense and one-upsmanship, with unstated affection underneath. It seems great for a time- but as Jaune's family is closer to being found, Weiss gets upset and moody because she wants it to stay that way forever. This causes a fight right before the Arcs are found, one that barely gets resolved just before Jaune leaves. Just as Jaune is leaving, he and Weiss comes to terms with their feelings (that they're friends), and Weiss sees him off onto the airship that's to take him back to his family.

Before it's even out of sight, it explodes- the first outright assassination attempt by the White Fang on the Schnees.

Jaune wanders out of the burning wreckage, hurt and desperate for help, begging for family. A familiar presence is at the edge of his senses before he passes out, wondering if it's mother.

When Jaune awakes, he can no longer remember his own family name.

Phase 5: Ren and Nora

Jaune wakes up without a clue of where he is or why. His hosts don't know much either- just that the badly injured boy was dropped off by a woman who wordlessly begged them to save him, and then disappeared. The only thing they know about him is his first name. Jaune- who disappeared from home at such a young age that he didn't even know his last name- barely even remembers that. His memories from before the incident are shattered- he vaguely remembers some of his experiences, but doesn't remember the names of anyone he met- his memories of Blake, Pyrrha, and Weiss flood into eachother, along with even fuzzier memories of blond girls. He thinks they're his sisters... but when he tries to think of his parents, he can't think of a father, and the idea of a mother... when the he's prompted if it's the black haired woman who dropped him off, Jaune's memories of home (of, say, the first scene in the story when he's lost his way from his mother) now reflect Raven.

Jaune's a mess, physically and mentally, but he's in good hands: the Lie Clan hands, famed hunters and healers. Though Raven left a bag of money, they'd have helped him anyway, and Jaune slowly recovers as they try to help him. But with his memories affected, they're looking for Raven, and not the Arcs. Jaune gets help from Ren, who introduces him to Nora, and the three become friends as Jaune recovers.

As time passes, Jaune heals, but the search for Raven dries out. The Lie Clan consider what will be done with Jaune if his family can't be found- and as this happens, a sense of alienation and wrongness starts to rise. Some of the Lie Clan is up for adopting Jaune- some think he should go elsewhere, and Nora's family is raised as a possibility. For Jaune, this causes a tension and sense of wrongness- the Lies aren't bad, but they're reserved and restrained with affection in a way that's hard for him to grasp or recognize as good will. But the idea that he can be traded away, just handed off like a... thing, challenges his sense of family. Something that shouldn't be forgettable, or a matter of handing off to someone else. He'll always feel the outsider, and he wants to find the family he lost, and resolves to run away.

Ren and Nora, while not approving, support him. They swear a friendship pact of sorts- with Ren promising Jaune that they're brothers enough that Jaune will always have a home to return to if his journey fails, and Nora promising that even if Jaune's memories are bad and he forgets them, they'll remember for him the next time they meet. Now nine or ten, Jaune sets out to find his family, with an image of Raven in his mind.

Much to his surprise, he finds her. Or rather, she finds him.

Interim Phase: Raven

Raven finds Jaune in short order, as the Lie Clan looking for him has caused news that reached even her. Raven is aggravated and wants to just drag Jaune back- until Jaune breaks down in relief and joy at finding 'Mother.' Seeing the blue eyes and blond hair, Raven is struck with memories of Yang, and can't speak, and in a daze tries to teleport out of there. Jaune fearlessly follows into the portal, and Raven has a tag-along that she didn't want but can't force herself to force to stop.

Jaune talks/babbles about his past, and how he remembers her and missing her for as long as he can remember now. At first he thinks Raven can't talk- that she gave him up because she's mute- but eventually she breaks down and they start talking awkwardly when he goes on about how he doesn't mind and will talk enough for both of them. Raven tries to tell Jaune that she isn't his mother, that she has now idea of who his father is, but his (mis-remembered) memories and experiences convince him that she is. He remembers his parents together, he remembers them being hunters, and now that Raven is how he remembers his mother, she's kind of stuck.

Jaune is an albatross around Raven, but she comes to terms that, as far as he is concerned, she kind of is family- which stirs old feelings and regrets. She tries accepting Jaune for awhile- a 'false happiness' phase- but ultimately can't when he wants them to start looking for his sisters and father next. Deciding they need to part ways- but wanting to give him a good home- Raven does something she vowed she'd never do.

She makes contact with her old family.

Phase 6: Yang and Ruby

Specifically, Raven makes contact with Qrow, telling him that Jaune is hers, and telling Jaune that Qrow will take him to the rest of 'their' family, before leaving for 'a little while.' Jaune is excited at first- but things get off to a really bad foot. Taiyang, shaken from his still-ongoing post-Summer depression, is torn between thinking Jaune is a long-lost son he never knew he had, and being furious that Raven would have stolen him while abandoning him and Yang. Yang outright rejects him as a brother- because of the Raven angle- and wants to know where Raven is. Ruby being welcoming is a consolation, but not someone Jaune remembers or can think of as remembering as family.

Despite trying, Taiyang and Jaune aren't able to do a father-son dynamic. Taiyang realizes that Jaune isn't actually his son, and probably not Raven's either- Jaune's memories, fragmented as they are, recall a homelife that can't be. Likewise, Jaune can't see Taiyang as his father- the memories won't come or fit right even if he tries to imagine them. Jaune is feeling displaced- and then worse, realizing that his mother/Raven (the two are mixed in his mind) has abandoned him (again).

Not understanding how, or why, Jaune makes to run away again- only this time he has company (or a tail), as Yang sneaks after him thinking he knows where Raven is. Ruby sneaks after Yang. The three of them get into trouble- Grimm trouble- and are saved by...

Raven, duh.

Raven saves the children- which gives them a long-awaited chance to confront the family that wasn't there. Yang and Jaune want to know why they're abandoned. Despite trying to argue that Jaune isn't her child, Raven is tied in nots trying to justify why she saved/helped Jaune repeatedly, but never showed herself to Yang. Yang's the angry child, Jaune's the hurt one, and Ruby is the innocent with the maxim 'from the mouth of babes.'

It's not a particularly satisfactory confrontation- Raven doesn't admit why she left Yang, or have any information about Jaune's real family- but she does ultimately admit that she feels guilty over leaving Yang, but that she meant/intended/hoped to return when she done. It's not the reason why, but it's enough that Yang gets a sense of semi-closure.

Jaune, though, doesn't- but accepts that Raven is being honest when she disclaims a relationship. She doesn't know what happened to his parents- she, like all the other characters, doesn't know his real name is 'Arc'- but she reassures him that they're doubtless still looking for him. Raven suggests/asks that he grow up a bit more before looking for them- and that if he becomes a famous hunter, surely they'll hear of him. And even if he doesn't- if he's still with Taiyang when she finishes her mission...

Timeskip to ending? Jaune ended up staying with Yang and Ruby, the unofficially adopted son. Raven, in a tense conversation, made a deal with Taiyang that she'd return and give answers after her mission if he took care of Jaune. Ruby helped Jaune resolve to keep looking for his family- something along the lines that 'real family' will keep looking for you, and will be worth looking for. Jaune is set to enter Beacon, where he hopes that becoming a famous hunter will help him find his family and make sense of his past.

End

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Coeur's Impression:

I liked the idea of the story initially, and while I'm not a particular fan of episodic or drabbles style fics, it could work out. Part of me would have preferred to see a more Jaune raised by Raven angle, but this is fine as well.

The initial arcs with Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss worked well, but I felt the later ones lacked the same development. Perhaps due to time contraints.

One thing I think was hinted at, but should be made clearer is that Raven's relationship with Jaune (from her PoV) should become warmer the more she helps him. As in initially she is nothing more than a concerned stranger, next time she is worried/frustrated - the third time where she rescues him from the crashed airship - I would have liked to see her talk to him, and within his vision show her concern for him - moving towards a more caring relationship.

I get that she "begged" the Lie's to save him, which hints at it, but a more first person affection would be nice.

Ren and Nora's friendship was okay, but I do feel that they didn't have the same reasons to bond. Blake and he shared rebelliousness, Pyrrha found him interesting and Weiss/Winter were lumped with him. But Ren and Nora, I feel like they need more of a reason to be introduced and get to know one another.

Perhaps Jaune is given to Ren as an introduction to healing. Like Ren is directly mentored to the person helping Jaune, and so initially has a professional relationship with him. That would give more reason for interaction, and later introducing Jaune to Nora.

I liked the believing his mother is Raven bit, but think full amnesia is always a bit of a cop in stories, it's very cliche. Jaune is still very young in this, and if you dragged the time out a little - then you could just flat out argue that his memories are becoming mixed, and constant abandonment is playing with his mind. I'd look up consequences of fostering here for children, as there are many ways it affects them, and I'd like to see some of them reflected in Jaune here - he is being thrown from home to home, that has to have some toll on his confidence/psyche - and i feel amnesia removes the potential for that delicious set of problems.

Anyway the RWBY household works okay, but I did find the ending a little unsatisfactory to be honest. I'd have liked to see Raven acknowledge that she cares for Jaune, as well as Yang - and that she now considers them both her children. But that she also realises what she has done by abandoning Yang - and now Jaune.

I'd even like to see Jaune's developing problems due to constant abandonment, be a serious concern FOR Raven. As she thinks she has not only caused his, but wonders what problems she has caused her own daughter too.

"Have I ruined the lives of two children? I just wanted to help..."

Maybe a more resolute ending would have been nice - but such are the consequences of only having fifteen minutes!

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Where to start except that Coeur hit a lot of the flaws on the head?

This is a better example of my typical response style in practice. I usually hand-scrawl a bullet point outline on hardcopy within the 15 min window- usually within 10- but then write a lot more than Coeur does, with details filtering in as I do. But here I was right down to the last minute for the ending in my planning stage- and it shows. The core concept was strong, but the later half was rushed and I couldn't cinch an ending and didn't even have a firm view of an endstate.

This prompt fit an early, informal theme of 'fandom cliches,' with my take on the typical 'raised by badass from childhood' backstory change. That trope is typically used to justify taking a weak/pathetic character and turning them into an impressive badass- often with angst to keep them sympathetic- by changing the origin story to remake the character. Break apart the family, put in contact with strong character, and bam- clearly incredibly powerful people have nothing better to do than raise random children. Especially those who abandoned their own, am I right?

So clearly the the obvious line of thought- 'well, Raven found Jaune, Raven will raise Jaune'- wasn't the one I wanted to go with. Raven dropping Jaune off as soon as she could was the most sensible- which led to the question that took five minutes, the question of 'with who?' The JNPR/RWBY cast were obvious- hey, here's your new sibling- and it would have been relatively easy to outline a basic story for any of them. But then the story would have been about Jaune's new family- not about Raven, who'd only be a catalyst- and it would have been violating my personal rule of how I hate the sort of stories that handwave backstory changes to justify an OOC character. The backstory change should be a story in and of itself.

Which led back to the question- who does Raven leave Jaune with?- and the ultimate answer: everyone. Jaune struggles to stay true to character- by trying to find his way back home, even as his memories fade. Raven- rather than a one-off character- has her own development between her encounters with Jaune, even as she really does get intertwined with Jaune. Tying in the student cast also helped with the drama, while also bringing an optimistic touch for the future when they all inevitably reunite at Beacon. Blake and Weiss will find someone they thought lost forever, even if he doesn't remember them. Pyrrha and Weiss are both angles to all but guarantee Jaune reunites with his family eventually, a light at the end of the tunnel in Jaune's journey even as the reader gets the ups and downs. Ren, Nora, Ruby, and Yang are all substitute families and fallback if it fails. And Raven is the unifying thread tying it all together. As a core concept, I like it. But the lack of polish and limits of the outline time show.

Jaune's memory issue wasn't well explained: I agree with Coeur that total amnesia is a cheap gimmick. While Coeur's suggestion of studying abandonment issues is really good- totally slipped my mind- an unwritten intent of mine was that from the start Jaune has to deal with memory adjustment- a real thing where people unwittingly edit or even invent memories to fill in information gaps. First he's young, and has spotty memories/ignorance (like not knowing a Mother's name- or even a family name), but then actual damage and issues. Memory is malleable- and Jaune, already a young child, was intended to be faltering even before Weiss. After the crash, Jaune's memories conflate his mother for Raven as their relationship moves to the next phase. The real plot necessity for memory issues, however, isn't Raven- it's to justify Jaune not returning strait away to the Schnees, who'd put him back in contact with his family. Before the airship crash, Jaune starts struggling with memories, but knows enough that the Schnees are able to help: afterwards, Jaune is so scrambled that Weiss (and Blake and Pyrrha) are the sisters he had, not friends he can go back to.

The Raven angle also doesn't convey a gradual change in their relationship from 'stranger' to 'emotionally invested,'which Coeur pointed out. Yeah, in execution I'd have allowed more time to show development- a chapter of scenes of time together- but that's the excuse for everything, isn't it? The specifics of Ruby and Yang were also rushed and needed to be worked out. The nugget of the idea was the idea that Raven presents Jaune as 'family', in that role of her being 'mother'- which fits Coeur's idea that Raven starts feeling guilt over what she's done with/to Jaune- and since Jaune and Yang are both blond and blue-eyed, it'd be just plausible enough to be considered, before it falls apart. The other part of the idea was that even though Jaune isn't 'family' in the end, his involvement brings a needed change to Raven's family: Taiyang gets stirred out of his depression, Yang gets a sense of closure, and Raven reconnects with those she abandoned.

But what I really failed at was pathing the ending I wanted: for Raven to take Jaune back home after the attempt with Ruby and Yang. That somehow they'd figure out who he was- like, Jaune would have a memory of the family crest, which Ruby would recognize from her book of stories and legends- so that Raven would return back to where it all started, and return him to the mother still looking for him. That, I think, would have been beautiful... and I wish I hadn't just figured it out as I wrote this.

But coming back to the start of hitting a cliche in a new way- this is how I'd try to do it. A full circle journey, with Jaune reuniting with his mother after a year or two lost, Raven tentatively re-establishing ties with her own family, and both being close not because they found family in each other, but found their own families through eachother. It's not a story with shipping in mind, though Jaune is already emotionally intertwined with the relevant cast. It's not about Jaune being badass and awesome, though he ends with resolve and intent to train up for Beacon. It would have been an uplifting, happy ending- with an optimistic future, with Jaune working towards Beacon (a reoccuring promise with all the friends before he left them) where he'd be sure to see them all again- including the ones who thought him dead or lost.

Ah, well. Maybe some day someone will write this- this is one of the few stories where I could see people enjoying it even if they knew how it would end. It really is the journey, not the destination.


	4. Lost Sister

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Jaune knows he has long-lost sister at Beacon. He just doesn't know who it is.

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Short Comedy Story - no more than 4-5 chapters.

Jaune can't remember anything about his sister, not after he bumped his head training with her, which apparently caused her to run away in shame. All he remembers is that the both of them dreamed of being hunters and that like him, she features a prominent birthmark on her left butt cheek.

So when he runs away to attend Beacon, which he recalls all their childhood conversations were about, he's determined to become a hero, and reunite with his sister. If only he can figure out which of the girls it is...

Well. If his sister is still too ashamed to approach him, there's one definitive method, right?

Follow Jaune as he tries to find his sister, by examining all the girls for the birthmark, in whatever way he can.

Comedy shenanigans ensue as Jaune develops a reputation as a deviant pervert, but also a dangerous man capable of charming any woman out of her trousers - except that for some reason he never does anything with them afterwards. He gains the incredible title of Beacon's Grandmaster of A***, with some people (RWBY) even wondering if he gains power from them, like some form of semblance.

For extra comedy value his ability to charm girls out of their paints, but then not reciprocate only serves to drive some girls wild, as they seek to claim him for themselves. But the entire time Jaune is simply focused on finding his sister, the caveat being that the sheer-minded doggedness allows him to chat with older women without shyness, because to him he isn't even flirting - he thinks it's a perfectly reasonable request.

Things heat up when his eyes turn to a certain older blonde... sure, she's stern. But she's a huntress - and Goodwitch sounds like such a fake name too.

Part of me thinks the twist at the end could come from his family coming to reacquaint with him, and his mother sighing and explaining that he didn't even have such a sister - it was a story she came up with to try and stop him training along in the woods so late. Like how a mother says don't go out at night or the Boogy-man will get you. He argues that he can remember her, but when asked about her he realises that everything about her is just himself. I.e. she wanted to be a huntress at Beacon, same as him... she has the same birthmark, they always trained together. It was just a young kid imagining things.

Then he realises he's basically been goosing all the girls in Beacon, making a name for himself as a complete player and pervert.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Proving that even the great Coeur is fallible. Not quite what I was suspecting, that's for sure.

The prompt came from an old anime that I've long since forgotten. It was the usual harem protagonist scenario, with the twist that after the first day at school, he gets a distorted phone call from the long-lost sister, saying she was one of the girls... without revealing which one. So what you had was a rom-com with the suspense of 'which of the love interests is secretly the sister'? Since Jaune goes to Beacon all but looking for a girlfriend, I thought it'd be an amusing way to throw a wrench into that.

Technically I didn't specify it had to be one of the girls of Team RWBY or JNPR, so I got what I asked for, but I definitely wasn't expecting the twist at the end. I think I'd have prefered it if it were played straight- to the point that Jaune's sister doesn't admit to it because she doesn't want to be associated with such a blatant pervert- but that's just me. Frankly, I'm not even that fond of perverted hijinks in the first place.

Not much else to say. It's a short summary of an even shorter comedy concept. You could do worse... but anyone who could write this well could put their talents to better use writing something better. I'll admit I'm not terribly interested in 'perverted guy shenanigans' humor, so this concept wasn't much more than a few cheap laughs for me.

Honestly, what was funner was how Coeur dodged my expectation. Coeur and I seem to have a thing for subverting eachother's intended directions for these things, haha.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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Wow, this prompt was really hard for me for some reason. I couldn't see a way to match it to any conventional plot structure - and I wanted to shy away from a Glynda - Jaune sisterhood for a few reasons. Firstly the age difference might make his parents unusually old, and it just felt awkward to me. It would have been a really drama-heavy piece wherein she doesn't want to return and he doesn't understand what caused the family to fracture, etc...

And honestly the last prompt I had done with Summer and Raven in the past already had a somewhat similar angle. So instead I went for a shirt-story, a novella if you will. No more than 4-5 chapters aimed at pure humour and semi-smut.

I don't think I nailed it very well to be honest, as you can probably see from my stories, my plots tend to be a little longer and more intricate. The goal was to take the typical japanese harem protagonist trope and turn it on its head a little, in that he's genuinely not looking for a harem, and doesn't even care about it.

He is a pervert and a smooth-talker, and a certified a**-man... for all the wrong reasons. And then I wanted to twist it at the end a little to suggest he had no sister after all.

There could have / would have been some other shenanigans, such as Jaune trying to check Ruby's posterior, to Yang;s fury - or Ren subtly always protecting Nora when Jaune is a-prowling. Meanwhile Pyrrha is blushing but pleased and strips to her underwear, only for him to bend over behind her tut, and leave.

"Yang I need advice..." Pyrrha saidnervously.

"Sure." Yang laughed, before raising one eyebrow as the redhead dropped her skirt in the middle of the hallway.

"Is there something wrong with my a**?"

But all-in-all, I'm not a major fan at this one. I feel it's probably my failure here xD

Maybe I should have gone with the drama-heavy Glynda route, it would have been a stronger plot structure, but I didn't want to repeat the sameish plot three times.

I'd give this one a solid 4/10!


	5. Bear Witness

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune dies in initiation, and becomes a ghost.

Coeur's Addendum: Don't you dare Bruce Willis me here, he know's he's dead!

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Concept: Bear Witness

Jaune dies. Things get worse from there. A 'for want of a nail' story.

Jaune goes to Beacon, and dies on impact with his (lack of) landing strategy. It's a horrible start to the exams- but at least it gives Ozpin an opportunity to make a speech about the importance of integrity, training, and not getting in over your head. And that's the ultimate fate of Jaune Arc- to be a gruesome cautionary tale. A pity Jaune's still there to watch everything get worse.

JNPR never forms as such, but it's RWBY that ends up fracturing. Ruby is extremely shaken by the image of Jaune. Weiss takes it differently- a resolve not to be caught up in or allow a laxing of standards- and in the initial point keeps working to be partners with Pyrrha, even after the exam during her super-frustration with Ruby, to the point that the Beacon faculty has to force her to stay with Ruby. While she and Ruby mend fences a bit, it's clear that it's an unwanted and unwilling partnership- which strains and feeds Ruby's sense of isolation even more. Jaune was the first/only person who wanted to be Ruby's friend, and no one cared about him and only Yang can barely say he seemed nice.

The lack of a Team JNPR sees Team RWBY isolated from the rest of the school. Too elitist/untouchable (Weiss and Yang), too good to be relatable (Yang and Ruby), too anti-social (everyone but Yang). The team is forced to turn inwards- spending more time together, but perhaps too much, and more because of a lack of opportunity than desire. Ruby and Weiss's partnership is strained by Weiss's initial actions. Blake and Yang, rather than give each other space by JNPR distracting Yang, start fighting like cats and dogs.

Witnessing Cardin's bullying puts a bitter taste in their mouths- but without Jaune as a target, that's all it really is. Cardin focuses on faunus, Blake resents it but doesn't actually do anything, and one day she and Yang fight about the hypocrisy of Blake complaining that no one is doing anything about it. Blake leaves earlier, and without the better ties to hold her down, it's not even about being a faunus.

With Blake gone, Pyrrha comes as a replacement- which reopens the Ruby-Weiss issue. Weiss tries/wants to be Pyrrha's friend, but it comes across as the partner issue- and by this point, Ruby is tired of being berated and practically friendless and doesn't object. Team RWPY de-facto re-organizes into a Yang-Ruby and Weiss-Pyrrha team, with neither pairing content. Yang wants Ruby to get out of her shell- but Ruby's given up since her own partner abandoned her and her only friend died. Pyrrha is terribly isolated and alone, and still doesn't want someone who identifies her by the Champion.

The shine of RWPY shines and dulls, and Jaune can't help but empathize with them- and especially Ruby. By the time of the dance, the team is practically miserable even if they're not actively hating each other: even Weiss's attempt to find happiness outside the team with Neptune fails when his pride/insecurity causes him to refuse the dance. All the girls- even Blake who's watching the dance from afar after coming back to Beacon after an unsatisfying and unproductive attempt to make a difference elsewhere- wonder if the life of a Huntress is really want they want, and think about leaving Beacon to find somewhere they can find acceptance and friends... but ultimately can't think of what they'd do or where they'd go. Ruby would be even more over-powered if she went back to Signal. Yang still would be the beauty with no friends, and is worried more for Ruby. Weiss is still lonely and unpopular. Blake is still a faunus. Pyrrha is still the Champion.

The group resolves to stay on the path- but there's not much hope or optimism in it, and the team, while powerful, will be mediocre at best.

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Coeur's Impression:

My thoughts on this, well in my mind it's very miserable and dark but I wouldn't call it a tragedy, if only because most tragedies need some level of hope so that the ending is actually tragic. For instance Titanic is tragic because they found their love and then had it torn from them. Romeo & Juliet is tragic for much the same reason. There's usually bright moments in a tragedy to make the ending actually be tragic.

So this isn't a tragedy to me, it's more of just a short slope to ruin. The ending is almost obvious, given how the story begins and the first few chapters. It's just a straight line diagonally going downwards. And while it's a good analysis of what the loss of Jaune might mean for the series, and a perfect example of why Jaune exists - to those who keep saying "Ugh I don't see his point in the show!" etc...

I couldn't call it a story though, because it doesn't really go through any of the motions of one. There's no real defined ending, no resolution - in a sense there is conflict, but at the same time not - or rather, those conflicts are never resolved, people just give up and life moves on. This is perhaps more realistic for it, but stories need a certain degree of exaggeration to make them stories. Characters need to act, where in real life we might hesitate or just go still.

I think I'm glad this one wasn't made, not because I don't think it's interesting, but because I'm not sure what I would get from reading it. It's well thought out reasoning for what the lack of Jaune means, but come the end I wouldn't feel fulfilled for having read through it. And that's not just because it could be called a sad ending, I can still feel a sense of completion upon a sad ending. Where, reading this I would just feel a sense of... well, it's not even really over.

Hard to explain, it's like doing a puzzle until all but the last two pieces remain, and then walking away. Part of you feels unsatisfied.

Perhaps there could have been an ending where whatever players remain come together, scarred but more determined through their loss to continue. They sit together, talk about their failures, and promise they will learn from them, to protect what is left. Jaune then smiles in his ghostly form, not pleased - but at least knowing they are heading in the right direction. Or Hell, they could have all died or quit - even that would have been more of an ending.

I get the feeling my prompt here seems to have thrown him a little bit, I expected him to come back as a ghost and interact, but instead he acts as naught but a spectator.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

I think I actually wrote this within 15 mins. If I didn't, it wasn't by much, and only because coming up with the idea for anything was hard.

What was the intent behind this? It really was a 'for want of a nail' scenario in which the absence of Jaune makes things worse. I don't think it did it well, actually- I mean, you can see some of the courses of action, but honestly they focus mostly on Pyrrha (who doesn't get the partner she needs) and Weiss (who wants Pyrrha as a partner, who doesn't get her boyfriend, etc.). The only one I genuinely feel clever for is the consequence of no JNPR bouncing back on Yang and Blake: I really do feel that RWBY is a team that, while having the potential to be great friends, also had the potential to drive eachother up a wall if they didn't have a safety valve release. That release was JNPR- the people Yang could goof off with, rather than annoy and drive Blake up the walls.

But what was really missing was a direct affect on Ruby- besides a bit of depression of a stranger dying. And for that, I think the point of departure should have been before the initiation, so that the real divergence is Ruby not having someone to help her up on the first day of Beacon.

If I did this concept again, I think I'd frame it in 'Jaune is about to give up during Cardin's bullying period, and wishes he could go back and never go back to Beacon'- followed by a 'Christmas Carol' style ghost observation sequence. Ghost of Beacon past is Jaune not being there for Ruby on the first day, not partnering with Pyrrha: even though they're unhappy Jaune doesn't think it should matter, because they're strong and would have other people (the rest of JNPR/RWBY) to help them. Which leads to the 'present,' in which the teams never form or bond- Pyrrha is alone while JNPR never forms, and Ruby is withdrawn as her team devours itself. Which leads to the 'future'- in which everyone is miserable. After which, of course, Jaune realizes he is helping his friends just by being there, and vows to prevent the bad future, and takes back his wish with the resolve to power through.

That'd be a better arc- and address a lot of what Coeur says. Misery is fine in fiction, so long as it serves a purpose. The base version of this story? Jaune without interaction? No real purpose.

On the brighter side... this was the the prompt that started both Coeur and my ghost-Juane stories. Which, as you'll notice, have almost nothing to do with this one. Coincidence? I think not.


	6. Democracy

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – When Jaune gets his aura, he also gets a conscience- or at least a voice in his head that tells him what he should do.

(Some member of the cast becomes a watcher/commentator in Jaune's mind. Timetraveler? Ghost? Something else? Up to you.)

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Title: Democracy

Summary: When Jaune unlocked his semblance in the Emerald Forest he expected super-powers, or at the very least x-ray vision. Just his luck perhaps, that instead his mind separates into a number of internal Jaune's - each representing different aspects of his core personality. Becoming a hunter when you have a committee of mini-Jaune's trying to run the show? This might be tough...

Basic Plot:

Jaune's mind shatters in the Emerald Forest. Not due to the stress, nor even the pressure. Instead, by the very act of having his semblance unlocked by his new partner, Pyrrha. This has the effect of breaking Jaune's internal conscience or psyche into different forms, each of them gaining a limited form of sentience.

These mini-Jaune's act as his conscience and thought-process. Not running his body, but certainly having a strong say in what decisions he makes. In effect, his mind has become a committee of mini-jaune's, a democracy of one.

On meta knowledge there would be a suggestion that his mind has literally split into hundreds of little pieces, but that there is an elected committee or representatives who interact with his mentally. So there's isn't much of a need to remember different attitudes, or have too many characters.

This would be less a story, and more a set of drabbles and comedic scenes. Such as Jaune being brought before the Council of Jaune's - to answer for his failing to have banged any hot chicks.

"It's not that simple." Jaune scoffed, crossing his arms from where he was chained to his seat.

"Silence knave!" The Jaune in a judge's wig shouted, throwing his gavel so that it bounced off his head with a meaty thunk.

Or his brain occasionally chipping in when he is talking to people to say they have come up with new constitutional laws and decrees. All the while Jaune is trying to convince them it is his body, and his mind - so he makes the decisions.

"Dictator! Ruthless tyrant! You will not oppress us!"

Or

"After long debate and numerous council meetings, we the elected Council of Jaunedom have decided that we must see Yang Xiao-Long n***. Or die trying."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Jaune asked out loud, rubbing his hand on his forehead.

"Did you cast your vote on the ballot?"

"What ballot!? You didn't tell me about any of this!"

I don't think I could really see a way to make this a full story with plot, not unless I did something really unusual like had Roman be killed early, and he gets trapped in Jaune's mind. Leading to Roman wanting revenge on Cinder for causing his death - and Jaune, after hearing what she is about - agrees to help.

Story could revolve around a vigilante Jaune, who has to sneak out of Beacon to do masked crime-fighting shenanigans to put a stop to Cinder's plans. Neo would be a friendly ally to him, once he proves he wants to avenge Roman. But some comedy could come from his methods being just criminal enough to have him wanted by police - and Team RWBY constantly tries to bring him in and arrest him.

Roman helps him in turn with both his fighting and his social awkwardness, even being able to take control of his body when allowed. This does lead to some weird situations, like Jaune falling asleep in class and Roman taking the chance to flirt with some women - leading to Jaune waking up sans his virginity.

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C.F.'s Impression:

So after the previous Coeur prompt(s) in which I was trying to lead something, this time I didn't. While the idea was sparked by a sub-type of time-travel fiction- where the time-traveling protagonist wakes up as a heard voice, rather than in control of a body- I was content to sit back and see what was coming up.

There are two ideas here- Democracy and the Roman angle- and and both a so brief there's no much say, but I'll try.

Democracy was... I was trying not to have an expectation for the fill, but I certainly wasn't even considering the fanfic equivalent the movie Inside Out, mashed with the concept of playing by twitch. (For those not aware- that's when someone plays a game via livestream, doing whatever the audience tells them to be. Can be hilarious, or bad, or hilariously bad.)

There's a bit of humor potential here- the many aspects of Jaune's identity scrambling for stupid things- but there's also an opportunity for character development- that as Jaune learns to lead/guide his collective conscience, and grows more mature himself, his mind-fragments also grow more mature. So at the start they are chaotic, immature, even irresponsible- but gradually become more inclined to compromise, to considering the outsiders, and being able to consider mulltiple angles before making a decision. An evolution towards the merits of democracy, if you will.

What's really missing, though- besides a plot- is **_what_** the benefit of this semblance actually is. Sure, you could have worthless superpowers- but if you were to give a plot to this idea, it'd probably help if Jaune's mindscape had some application. Like- could he bring someone else into his mindscape, allowing a nuanced discussion of viewpoints and communication... or a hundred-on-one brawl in the center of his own mind if polite disagreement is impossible?

As for the Roman angle...

This was the one closer to what I was expecting, and I actually like it. Roman could be a good foil, and a good snarker, and a good pusher to press Jaune to improve himself faster than in canon... while also threatening to undermine Jaune's character. Roman has a good reason to go along with helping the good guys (revenge), Neo has a good reason for getting involved (Roman), and Jaune... well, Jaune gets some useful, if not morally good, advice from his anti-conscience. Plus, a better chance at being laid- though I think possession is a bit much.

It's a bit short to say much, though. Is Roman the only voice in Jaune's head? Or is Roman stuck inside the Democracy semblance, one voice amongst the group, able to influence but not take by force because he's outnumbered a hundred to one in Jaune's own head?

It's hard to say. Coeur had the nugget of an idea, but not a plan.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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What College Fool probably hasn't mentioned was that just before this one we both came up with our ghost fics, which are now live. I'd say check them out, but you likely already have... Anyway, mine included and get this:

A dead person that no one else could see, talking to the protagonist, offering advice and comments etc...

And my initial idea for this prompt was the Roman angle... which is a dead roman in Jaune's head speaking and... oh dear... yeah, it's the exact same thing. So I did actually come up with the Roman story line first, before deleting it all and starting afresh with Democracy. I just couldn't bring myself to respond to two consecutive prompts from CF - in the exact same manner lol.

So instead this mad brainchild was born. I don't know the movie CF mentioned, but he did hit the nail on the head when he mentioned "Twitch Plays" which was sort of the inspiration for this.

Since I only had a little time left to sketch the idea out, it didn't come out in full - there were ideas that every day there would be an election in his mind, and that whatever fragment won - it would influence him through the day. So he might slip from slightly more seductive, to angry, to greedy - all subtle changes, but still noticeable.

It was planned as a pure comedy with no pairings, and again a short story.

In hindsight my original Roman idea was better, but like I said - it was too damn similar to "From Beyond" to realistically be used.

In the future I might look to do something more with it, so I won't go too far into it. But suffice to say the whole dead person talking angle, was just too similar to the last prompt for me to feel at all comfortable giving it again.


	7. Prozzy Jaune

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Couer's Prompt – Jaune has a side-job to earn money while at Beacon. He is a male stripper and occasional prostitute.

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Couer's Fill:

Jaune wanted to do things honestly, and to become a Hunter that meant training to catch up with the other students. That meant he needed a teacher, and for that he needed money. Running away from home at an earlier stage in his life, Jaune has been living in Vale alone for the last three years.

Originally working as a dishwasher in a nightclub whose owner felt sorry for the homeless boy, he later moved to serving drinks and cocktails. As his costs increased however, he started to need more money and moved on to becoming one of the main attractions at the club - a masked stripper. Masked to protect his identity but also the fact that he was underage when he started.

He began on an even more slippery slope when a guest asked to buy him for a night, offering so much that Jaune couldn't say no. Since then he has become a rental boy as well - and although he hates it, he cannot say no to the money.

By the time Beacon comes around Jaune is a changed man. More confident in his body, but also with little respect for it. He tends to try and avoid girls, especially if they show any interest in him - even bring rude to them. But is friendly to those who don't like him that way.

Yang finds him intriguing - the way he is cuddly with her sister because Ruby treats him like a big brother, but also the way he flirts back with her shamelessly - while seeming genuinely upset at Pyrrha's attraction. Te fact that whenever a girl asks him out (some nameless girl) he breaks their heart with unusual cruelty? Well, that just feels weird...

Story would progress from there, with Yang getting to know Jaune as a friend, while also getting hot and heavy under the collar with this dancer at her favourite club. Jaune puts up with it because she is a best friend to him - without any sexual interest, and because as a client it's not her fault, he is dancing TO turn her on.

She often chats with dancer - Jaune, revealing her fears and concerns while he acts as a host. Listening to her problems with responsibility looking after Ruby, and her panic over the fact Blake won't ever rest, etc... generally using Jaune as someone she can confide in, who won't rat her out.

Things become awkward however when she actually earns enough from part-time work to buy him for a night. A night in which he blindfolds her before having sex with her, during which he breaks the no-kiss rule, realising that he is falling for her.

This makes things tough as now he realises his attraction he knows he is wrong for her. Too broken, too damaged and unclean. He tries to distance himself, only to find that she keeps coming back to the club with alarming regularity, sometimes for dancing, lapdancing.

Things come to a head when she brings more money for another night and he rejects her, and in an emotional fight in the club she punches him, knocking his mask off and revealing him as Jaune. Yang's heart breaks. The club was her dirty little secret, something she kept secret from the others - a place she could be weak and human. She feels that Jaune decried that, and things at Beacon are incredibly tense, something everyone notices very quickly.

The dance comes and Yang is alone - as is Jaune. Ren comes to the rescue, drawing Jaune aside a man-to-man talk where he punches Jaune in the face and calls him a million kinds of a fool. Long story short, Ren manages to reach Jaune and he goes to Yang. They reconcile at the dance, with Jaune explaining that he refused her because he didn't want to be something she had to pay for, and that he had fallen in love with her. The two dance under the moonlight while their teams watch on, smiling.

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C.F.'s Impression:

A good fill- we had a hot-streak of stronger fills and plots around this time- and much better than anything I could have done. I passed for reasons I'll decline to explain, and Coeur made a good fill of it instead. What came is something that I think could be the backbone of a good story.

There's no critical element I feel is really missing from this outline, nothing that you wouldn't expect to be filled in during implementation. Is Jaune's backstory and motivation reasonable? Yes. Do the changes to his character and characterization make sense in light of that? Yes. Is male prostitution treated for laughs? No- and thank god for that. Prostitution is complicated at the best of times- and rather than laugh at it and move on, it was treated with consideration and nuance. The only thing I'd question is whether Yang would be the sort of person to hire a stripper- and that depends on how you choose to interpret her character, whether she's sincere about her sexual interest and edgy maturity, or just playing. This story takes the 'sincere', and runs with it.

I think the strongest part of this story is it's handling of sexuality and emotional intimacy. It's simultaneously very sexual- Jaune is a prostitute and dancer- and yet very chaste- Jaune is only friendly with girls who aren't interested. It's when the barriers blur- when the emotional and sexual intimacy mix- that things get out of hand, and that's good character drama, and development. In a sense, both characters rise above the weaknesses/flaws associated with prostitution- Jaune (presumably) leaves the life behind and certainly won't take Yang's money, while Yang is no longer paying for what was emotional intimacy- which makes a better arc than a more stereotypical 'saving the prostitute' storyline. By not taking a moral point on it- Yang is engaged and involved as the client, and not simply 'saving' Jaune from the life- it makes the rise for both of them more meaningful.

Are there more things Coeur could do with this idea than was written? Sure. Cardin's bullying arc is something that deserves consideration- it could be skipped, or it could be kept if there's blackmail not on the basis of 'Jaune cheated his way in,' but 'Cardin knows Jaune is a prostitute.' That could have served as a hidden tension between Jaune and Yang that helped bring them closer via the double-life- Yang sharing her concern to her favorite stripper that Jaune was worrying her and making distance with the friends, one more thing that's worrying Yang- while also addressing/resolving something like the Pyrrha subplot. Pyrrha confesses. Jaune admits his secret and reasons, Pyrrha backs down- all like Yang might have suggested. But Cardin hears, Jaune is blackmailed, and from Yang's perspective everything seems worse- until Forever Falls, Cardin keeps the secret, and things improve. All the while Yang doesn't really know- even as stripper!Jaune talks to her about it in return.

But that's a suggestion of elaboration- not a flaw needing corrected- and overall this is a solid fill.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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This prompt was fun for me, I love those realistically flawed Jaune's, and I also love taboo topics. Jaune as a prostitute was pretty easy for me to imagine, though I had to resist a REALLY obvious RWBY adaptation of the famous movie Pretty Woman. That would not at all have been original however, and I don't like to take those angles.

So my thoughts here, it was rushed of course, but I felt it has potential. Yang is a good option for Jaune because we know she has a bit of a night life, especially pre-Beacon, and also because she's the only woman in the case probably confident enough to approach and talk to someone like Jaune. Although the prompt suggested he be a prostitute, I decided to take it a little further and have him as an entertainer. A stripper, a host - and if the price is right, an escort for a night.

Yang's interactions with him would begin easily enough, although it's never mentioned in the draft I didn't mean to suggest Yang is visiting male strip joints, but that this nightclub simply has it as an addition. It's not uncommon in some major cities in the UK to have very popular nightclubs, just having a separate area for this kind of thing - Just for those who want it. Jaune hiding his identity by being masked makes sense since he would be quite ashamed of his profession, especially when he is trying to make a new life at Beacon. An easy-going attraction / friendship between Yang and Jaune would work well.

It also sets up well for future conflict, which is something a lot of fics lack - and something which makes any work strong. There are so many "problems" with Jaune and Yang's relationship, including their friendship getting in the way, Jaune's deceit, Yang's desire for others not to see her weakness... it's easy to confess to a masked guy you'll never have to worry about revealing your secrets. But suddenly finding out that is your best friend? Who you PAID for sex?

As for the unrealistic aspect of Yang paying for that? There's a small amount of creative liberty taken there perhaps, but at the same time that would be very deep into the story, so there is plenty of time for Yang to start falling for the masked man - and it made sense in my mind that Yang might go for it, perhaps thinking she could win him over. She's only seventeen after all, and no doubt highly stressed from looking after Ruby, and Blake (who by this stage is working herself into ruin like in canon) - so a single night's relief, when she is already buzzed from alcohol, and turned on from Jaune's dancing? Perhaps not as unrealistic as initially thought.

The fall out of which works well. She starts to rely on him even more, and with the real Jaune distancing himself because he thinks he is unclean, there's even more reasons for Yang to feel upset and come rant to the dancer, and later seek further comfort with him. Except when he rejects... yeah.

The ending - eh, it works but it isn't too inspired. The Fang is still out there, as is Cinder - so maybe it could have used a different one. But it does the job! Either way, I'm okay with this one.


	8. Healing Hands

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune was born with an enviable semblance - the power to heal. But when you have the semblance "everyone" wants - are you even safe?

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College Fools Fill - Healing Hands

Jaune manifests his aura and semblance earlier in life, and gains the power to heal the wounds of others when he puts his hands on them. What starts off as a sinless semblance leads his parents to devote effort into teaching him to learn and master his powers- sending him off early to a young-Hunter training school to for young people with aura.

Jaune's powers quickly catch the eye of the best pragmatic, well-intentioned people... who want to use Jaune's powers in the most efficient, effective way possible. Jaune goes from practicing in the school clinic, to doctor offices, to hospitals, to emergency rooms. At first it's empowering, liberating, gratifying- this is, after all, good work- but the more severe it gets the more it wears on Jaune. Especially since his regular training is quickly put on hold for this. Not even ten years old but routinely seeing maimed and near-dead people, being pushed to and beyond his limits with the pressure of the lives depending on him and people who will die if he doesn't...

Jaune begins to crack under the strain, and tries to leave- and runs into the power of an authority that thinks him too useful to lose. When Jaune's parents come to pick him up from boarding school, the authorities turn them away, by force- only letting Jaune heal them before taking him away to the next patient. When the parents try to appeal through the courts, Jaune's official kidnapping becomes drafting into the military, forcibly separating Jaune from his family with the intent of turning him into a tool for the state.

Jaune resents, and tries to revolt, but can't escape the hospital in which he's trapped and forced to heal- though a glimmer of hope emerges when General Ironwood gets involved as the likely recipient of Jaune as an asset. Ironwood establishes a structure that had been missing in the always-rush atmosphere of the emergency room- (physically) forcing the hospital staff to give Jaune time to himself, and permitting Jaune some small freedoms. Ironwood knows that Jaune is close to breaking, and wants to give a structure that protects Jaune as much as it directs him- but Jaune, already burned, is slow to respond well. The hesitance to trust is especially inflamed when, during points that Jaune is ready and wants to use his power to help people, he can't because he's held in reserve in case 'important' people need healing on short notice. It's galling- first he was overworked, then not allowed to work without permission- but Ironwood makes slow progress with Jaune. Thier relationship improves to the point that Jaune trusts Ironwood enough to convey messages between Jaune and his parents.

Then comes the 'terrorist attack' on the hospital.

It's the White Fang, who've caught wind of Jaune's powers. The attack is intended as a kidnapping- but for Jaune, it's a liberation. The White Fang, and Blake in particular, show Jaune the underside of the Kingdoms- of the faunus who were never allowed in the hospitals because of racism. Jaune is eager to help now that he can, and is willing collaborator in helping heal Faunus- and grows to resent the Kingdoms for how they not only restricted the faunus, but tried to enslave by telling him who he could and could not heal and when. Jaune makes friends with Blake- one of his kidnappers- and gradually rebels against the Kingdom's dictations of 'the greater good' by simply doing 'good' for the faunus as well. The White Fang, pleased beyond all expectations, give him a looser hand than the hospital, and things are good.

But only for a time- and as the White Fang militarizes, so does its efforts to monopolize Jaune. Instead of treating anyone he wanted, including faunus, Jaune realizes he's only been treating faunus- with more and more of them showing signs of battle. When Jaune tries to leave the White Fang base and is stopped, Jaune realizes he's become a prisoner- and that his good deeds were just a way for the White Fang to build the same support network that is now hurting people, people he's not allowed to help.

Jaune's efforts to leave snag into a complication with Blake- who is having her own doubts about the path of the White Fang, but not ready to defect yet. While she stops Jaune from leaving, she does agree to pass on a message to his parents- not realizing that Jaune's parents are Hunters.

The Arcs come to rescue Jaune- and start chaotic, bloody battle when the White Fang refuses to let Jaune go and the Kingdom's police launch a raid of their own to reclaim him. It's a confusing, chaotic, and hectic three-way fight all over Jaune- who tries to use his powers to keep anyone from dying- and which ultimately ends in a massacre of all the sides. The White Fang and police forces are cripple- and the Arcs die trying to rescue and protect Jaune. Unable to save them- unable to bring back his parents no matter how much power he applies- Jaune is devastated, even catatonic. Blake- consumed by guilt and pushed past the defection point- takes Jaune away in the chaos as they both escape.

Wanted by the White Fang and the government, they lay low. Jaune grieves, and wants to forget about his powers: to never use them again, so that no one else (him or anyone else) will be hurt by them- sealing his powers, penance through inaction. Blake, more proactive, thinks they should use their strength to help others, everyone they can to make up for what they were responsible for- redemption through action.

It's too idealistic for Jaune, who's tired of only seeing people when they suffer, all for a greater good, and he and Blake fight. Blake points out that his powers are a part of him- that he can't simply pretend they don't exist, and that others won't either. He can't run away from them. Jaune, meanwhile, is angry/afraid/feels that Blake just wants him for his powers, just like everyone else but his now-dead family. Jaune is still grieving and lashes out, and Blake feels guilty/responsible both for keeping him in the White Fang and what happened to his parents. They separate for space.

Before they can reunite and make up, Jaune is found again by Roman Torchwick- who recognizes Jaune, but doesn't try and take him by force. Instead- preying on Jaune's need to run away from the police/White Fang/Blake heself- Roman helps Jaune escape to the relative freedom of the criminal underworld and Roman's own safe houses. Roman is clever- letting Jaune leave if he wants, which leads to Jaune coming back and working for Roman. It's a contractual relationship with only limited fondness- but desperately craved freedom, and Roman's protection against being exploited. So long as Jaune does Roman the occasional favor- healing people at Roman's direction- Jaune can do what he wants, for whom he wants, whenever he wants, for however much he wishes to charge.

The criminal underworld gets a Black Market doctor, and Jaune is an asset of Roman's- albeit one with the freedom he previously wanted. As long as Jaune helps Roman and takes some jobs Roman wants, Roman and Neo protect Jaune and let him do whatever he wants. Jaune makes money from healing, builds a support network that helps keep him and Roman hidden and well connected, and Neo fights off the occasional mob/ganglord attempt to kidnap/steal Jaune for private usage. It's a better life- and Jaune basically lives at the Club now with Jr. and the Twins, who are somewhat fond of him- but the sheer self-interest motive behind everything he does and everyone he deals with sours Jaune. It's not just 'the deserving poor' who come to him for help, but scammers and self-inflicted maladies and thugs and the worst of the worst. In his darker moments, Jaune is convinced that his powers of healing, and he himself, aren't good, but curses that just bring about suffering.

Then comes Yang, in the night of the Yellow trailer. When Yang starts beating the shit out of people, Jaune runs out... not to fight her, but to care for the goons he knows. Yang is confused, and tries to knock him off, but the Twins come out and protect Jaune, sparking curiosity/interest. When the fighting's over- when Yang is standing over Junior- Jaune comes out to help the man to Yang's interest and consternation when she realizes she tried to knock out a doctor. It's an awkward first meeting, and not a terribly happy one- all the more because while Jaune can heal the hurt, he realizes that he's not strong enough to keep them from being hurt in the first place. In that moment he dislikes Yang, who's so strong and yet needlessly hurts people for fun.

Jaune resolves to learn how to fight. What better place to learn than school? Jaune cashes in money and favors for Roman to get him into Beacon. Jaune gets a bit of training beforehand- and a forged transcript- and enters Beacon. Nominally as Roman's agent, actually for his own reasons, and unknowingly as part of Roman's gambit to keep Jaune out of Cinder's hands, now that she's learned about him.

Jaune goes to Beacon and is still weak- though not as clueless, less flirty, and not at all cocky. Has a poor opinion of a lot of the Hunters/Huntresses to be for training to hurt eachother more than the Grimm. Then he meets Ruby, who's annoyingly idealistic and sticks with him because he helped her up out of concern and reflex when she blew herself up. Which leads him back to Yang. Who likes him for being friendly with Ruby, and is pleasantly surprised that he's trying to become a good hero after their meeting in the bar, even as he hides his poor opinion of her. When he and Blake meet, there's an uncomfortable tension- both harbored guilt and concern over how they separated, and regret not reconciling- but both are uncomfortable in how to apologize, even as they assume the other holds a resentment. For now they agree to keep their mutual secrets secret from everyone else- Blake's faunus heritage, and Jaune's semblance.

Not having any interest in Weiss (the influence of the White Fang years), Jaune doesn't approach her or make any contact or impression with her or Pyrrha. Having had his aura and semblance active for almost a decade, Jaune has no problem with his landing strategy- simply healing himself after impact. Jaune goes through the initiation and stumbles across Yang after she and Blake are partners.

Though he doesn't feel comfortable with either of them, Jaune sticks around in hopes that they'll run into someone else along the way. Jaune still thinks Yang is a bully of sorts- playful rough humor coming across as uncaring- but gets second thoughts when Yang is worried/concerned about Ruby. These second thoughts are tempered when Yang's solution for any Ruby problem is to beat up the offender.

Jaune's opinion of Yang as a both selfish and 'can only be violent/solve things through violence' gets cracked when, during the deathstalker fight, Yang takes a blow for Ruby and gets fatally wounded by the Deathstalker. It's self-sacrifice, and Ruby's distraught and devastated, but Yang's is dying happy because she protected Ruby. In the moment, Yang's yellow hair and face takes the appearance of Jaune's own mother on the night of the White Fang rescue that went wrong.

Cursing himself and refusing to be too late, Jaune shows his powers and heals Yang, to both her and Ruby's amazement. Jaune denies caring- he didn't do it for her or anything- but neither Yang or Ruby believe him, calling him tsundere. Both declare him their friend, and Jaune's dragged along as they continue initiation as they vow to find him a partner- or perhaps Ruby is his partner now, since Weiss may or may not have teamed up with Pyrrha. But as they move on, Jaune is confused- saving Yang and seeing Ruby's relief made him feel good in ways he hasn't in years- and the fact that they move on without dwelling on his power is novel. As is their agreement when he asks if they can keep his power a secret for now. Ruby doesn't understand, but she and Yang promise, and Blake is already blackmailed, so... not sure of what to feel, Jaune goes along along with the girls.

Meanwhile, from their scrolls, Ozpin and Glenda are watching. Glenda is startled, recognizing Jaune as the stolen miracle, and wants to alert General Ironwood right away. Ozpin stops her- a calculating look in his eye- and cautions her that it's too early to risk startling Jaune away. Ominous foreshadowing as Ozpin muses that Jaune is up for grabs once more- and a flash-over to Cinder, who is confronting Roman and demanding to know where Jaune is. Roman admits Jaune is at Beacon- and isn't that inconvenient for her?- and Cinder's eyes narrow as she claims it only represents a setback.

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Coeur's Impression:

I liked this one. When I gave the prompt I had this in mind to a degree- I think I made it obvious that I was giving him a prompt for an OP semblance, something I've often gone on record saying I dislike - but there are ways to introduce downsides or consequences to even the most OP of semblances, and this is one such example.

I like that the White Fang begins as freedom for him, not just another prison - in a real sense its the negation of the negation, in that he desires freedom but instead gets more slavery, that he has convinced himself is freedom. As growth that is pretty good because it shows that he still has some way to go.

I'd have liked to see a different reason for him to resent them however, as it mirrors the state on too much, on the monopolization issue. Any other angle would be fine, I just wouldn't want to see the same thing happen both times, as that's a little repetitive.

The rest of it seems good to me. The criminal arc is perfect since Roman is clever enough to not make the same mistakes he by now must KNOW Ironwood/the state made in the past. Jaune's interaction with them is just on the safe side of moral- so he doesn't become OOC in any way, like becoming a common criminal or something. Yang as an interfering factor is nice, though that giving him sudden resolve felt a little odd - maybe a more selfish initial motivation might make more sense. But it works well enough.

I think the ending point was a little unfinished, I'd have liked to see it go further, but as you can see it's already a long piece, so no doubt C.F. couldn't do more in just 15 mins. Still, I really liked this one, it ticks the boxes of preventing his semblance from being OP, gives him realistic reasons to not use it - and even gives him reasons to hate it! Since, for a guy who heals, he sure has caused a lot of death.

Very good plot.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

So, I cheated a bit. In the original draft, there was no White Fang section- it was from the draft to Roman stealing Jaune from the military. After Coeur suggested it in the feedback, I put it in because I liked this idea, and thought the idea too good not to use in case I ever continue this. And I kind of want to- maybe as a future prompt- because this is actually a good set-up to a story I could see enjoying.

Here you get to see my general view on changing a character's backstory in practice: if it's a really cool backstory change, it'd probably be really cool story in and of itself. I tend to dismiss plots that go 'we had this really cool change to the backstory, but let's ignore it now and pretend nothing else but the character changed.' Develop it! Let it run free! That's what you have here- Jaune's radical backstory, developed, leading him to what will obviously be a time of significant character difference while still allowing future development. It also affects other characters- Ironwood and Blake- to give them new relevance to the story.

Is this, on its own merits, a good story? I'd say no. Hanging plot threads, unresolved character arcs, you name it. Jaune hasn't actualized as a person, accepted his powers, and doesn't even believe himself a good person. The closest thing to having friends at Beacon are two sisters who like him more than he likes them, and a giant 'it's complicated' with Blake. On its own, not a good story- and I wasn't even sold on how the partners would be. Heck, I wasn't even sold on Jaune's motivation for Beacon- initially it was a vengeance plot for Yang beating up the twins, but I thought that would imply too much emotional closeness with them.

So as a stand-alone story, not so much. As a lead-in, though... much, much better. Jaune hasn't finished his character development, but he's come to a point at which he's ready to begin it in earnest, to go back closer to what he was/could have been. There are no strong character relationships, friendship or otherwise, but there's fodder to make them- with Blake (the past), or Yang (the present life-debt), or Ruby (gratitude/idealism for the future). And the premise of the backstory change- competition over Jaune's semblance- promises to be relevant going forward as well. It's a good set up.

So despite the flaws- and the rushing- and the post-facto editing- I like this piece. If Coeur and I had a run of weak-ish prompts and responses early on, this was part of a run of strong answers that could become good stories in their own right


	9. Summer's Fall to Cinder Rose

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Cinder Fall is Summer Rose.

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Couer's Fill:

Story starts with a dream sequence, flashback - Cinder is returning from a Hunter mission, pleased to have rescued a set of scientists researching something in the Grimmlands, on the Council's orders. The mission was tough and she is freezing cold, but looking forward to going home. The Bullhead is on the way to pick them up, and there is happy chat between her as the rescuer, and those she saved.

Happiness turns to horror however when the Bullhead circles above them, before dropping red dust bombs on them, incinerating the researcher's alive and leaving Cinder burning to death in the middle of a snowy field.

All she remembers is a main in a suit, saying that sometimes there are secrets that must remain secret, until she hears a gunshot.

Story starts in medias res, with the breach already having taken place. It is, at its simplest, a thriller - with events escalating up to a major war between Cinder's forces and those of Vale. I would also write it from the PoV of Cinder becoming more public about her plans, organising a veritable civil revolution.

More emphasis on the White Fang, and their own goals - as well as power plays and "unexplained" hostility and history between Raven and Summer. I would not write them as friends - Raven hates Cinder for stepping in when she left, while Cinder hates Raven for abandoning her children and being all high and mighty about it. But that's never said until later, it's meta knowledge for now.

I might consider it as a Ozpin x Cinder/Summer story, where she tries to win him (and by extension Beacon) over to her side. Ozpin would also know the truth about her identity, perhaps shown to the readers through an enigmatic comment:

"Your eyes... They're gold now, but I still remember when they were different. Less precious to some perhaps, but gentle. I like them better that way."

There is history between them, though it's always only hinted at - Ozpin found and rescued her, but knew she could never return as Summer as the Council watched her family and would have killed them all to silence her. On the other hand, as much as he cares for her - what she is doing is wrong in his mind, creating conflict between them.

Despite that, Cinder would drop hints - thanking him for looking after her little ones, but hinting in such a way that it makes the reader think she means Emerald and Mercury.

As for a reveal between Cinder and Ruby/Yang - I would consider it at the Black Moment of the story, where all seems lost. Ozpin can't work with her, and marches against her with Beacon. Her forces are scattered, and it seems as though she is lost. Team RWBY infiltrates ahead and confronts her. At that point during the fight they notice that Cinder cannot/will not attack Ruby and Yang properly, and they defeat her by exploiting that.

When asked why, Cinder reveals the truth - although through poetic terms.

"Thus kindly I was scattered, little more than ash upon the wind - but one piece still burned, nothing more than a lonely cinder. And thus, Summer gave way to Fall - and perhaps now it is my time to fade into Winter."

"No..." Yang whispered, stepping back.

"Thank you for looking after her my precious little dragon. I am glad that only a single rose withered."

I'd then lead to Cinder being charged and executed, with Ozpin executing her - through a public burning at the stake, an ironic punishment for her crimes.

I'd then do an epilogue with newspaper clippings, where the Council's crimes are brought to light, with each of them being ousted and arrested for their crimes.

And then, when all reviewers are devestated.

A second epilogue. Ozpin goes to a secretive house, lets himself in and sits down with some coffee, reading the same newspaper clip with a satisfied smile. He comments that sometimes the subtle approaches are the best. And two pale arms wrap around his shoulder from behind, as a cool cheek presses against his.

"Ruby and Yang promised to give me tonight alone." Cinder comments, "I have need of you my dear Headmaster."

"Oh?"

"Yes, there's another fire that needs quenching. I think you're just the man for the job."

"Then I shall not keep you waiting, my beautiful flower."

Scene End.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Proving that not _every_ prompt between us is Jaune-centric, just most of them. This prompt came from a discussion we were having at the time, mixed with a bit of musing on typical fandom tropes. The trope in this case being 'the villain is the parent'- and hey, since they never found the body...

I've mixed views on how Coeur handled this. On the plus side, I can approve of the initial conceit- that Summer is burned while doing heroic things, and turned to Cinder as part of a Council's betrayal and cover-up. It's a satisfactory explanation for why she couldn't come home (threat to the family) and why she opposes the Kingdoms (revenge and the ability to return/reclaim her family). I even like the Raven-Cinder animosity- again, because of family. Ozpin being the 'he knows, but doesn't burn the Kingdoms with her' also seems true to character- and that applies especially to what Coeur and I suspect/head-canon Cinder's actual motivations to be.

But I think the story takes a weak track- confusing and mixing its themes. I don't feel the romantic angle between Cinder and Ozpin- it's unnecessary to every one of their character actions, from rise to Cinder's defeat, and it really just highlights the big missing element of Taiyang, who's related to two of Cinder's main character points (animosity to the Council, and Raven). Cinder trying to seduce Ozpin to join the dark side with her so she can take her revenge? Makes sense with her role as villain. Vengeful!Summer, who can't fight seriously against family she still loves, replacing the husband for someone else? Not developed at all- and you'd need a lot more development than suggested here. Either killing of Taiyang, or reconciling him and Raven, at the least. Even if you did, I'm not sure it really adds anything to the plot other than Ozpin-Cinder (or would it be Ozpin-Summer?) shipping for its own sake.

If Cinder is supposed to be defeated, while Summer gets a karmic victory and hide in obscurity/house arrest with her family, I honestly think it'd be better if Ozpin simply reunited her with Taiyang. Then, in addition to not crossing your wires and themes (Summer's ties to family motivating and affecting her), but you could set up a love triangle dynamic that might actually work. Ozpin is attracted to a worthy adversary, but torn by duty and morality. Cinder is interested in an ally and partner she could treat as an equal, but not interested in love- while Summer is still capable of love, but loves her family. Then the plot would have the narrative theme of Ozpin defeats Cinder (rather than side with her) because duty wins over desire, but saves Summer (even if he can't have her) because his sense of morals overcomes his sense of duty to the corrupt Council.

Ultimately, this feels like a Cinder story Coeur might already have had in mind, with the Summer angle tacked on, rather than a premise to combines the characters of Summer and Cinder into one. That is going to be tricky when Summer is so much of a blank-slate, but even so you could remove Summer from the story and it would still work almost the same. Cinder's motivation could be anything so long as it's justified anger, and her hesitance that leads to defeat could be because of Ozpin, and it'd still work just as well, if not better. Structurally it's not a bad story- and anything with good structure and a skilled writer will be decent- but structure alone wouldn't make it a good story, you know?

To use a base ball metaphor- not a strike out, but not a double. Single-base hit at best.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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A bizarre prompt, and one that needed a solid introduction to make it realistic. Having Summer betrayed by the Council seemed the best option to me since it would answer a lot of questions. I.e. why does she not return, why is she trying to cause unrest, etc...

Also there needed to be a reason why her semblance changed, from whatever she had - to what Cinder has. So fire seemed the easiest option there. There's other little things too, like a rose burning into cinders - and summer changing to fall. It's all very symbolic and easy to connect.

What became more difficult however was having a larger plot. The problem with these kinds of stories is that there is already a plot in place. Cinder is a baddie, trying to destabilize Vale for nefarious purposes. Sure I could write that, but it would just be rehashing the show as it is. So I needed something different.

Cinder and Ozpin as a couple seemed vaguely antagonistic enough for me to use. It wasn't well explained in the draft due to me lacking any time - but the premise would be that Cinder spies on her family, seeking comfort in seeing them safe, but instead finds herself disgusted by what Taiyang has become - a shell of a man, not there for their daughters. So she goes to the only other person she still trusts, and asks him to look after her daughters - creating a solid reason for Ozpin to actually be so accepting of Ruby entering Beacon early.

That would over time become something deeper, but it would be a slow effort. Having them both on opposite sides of the war helps to increase tension and conflict - because with Cinder's identity kept relatively secret, there's really no other conflict to use. I can't show her conflict with Yang and Ruby early - without revealing her identity to everyone.

This plot didn't lack a start or an ending, what it lacked was a cohesive middle arc that would help to tie them all together. In hindsight I can think of a few ways to fix that, but hindsight is 20/20 as always.


	10. A Bastard or Something

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Weiss Schnee, 17-year old Huntress in Training, has a dangerous secret, due to an attack when she was younger - she has a two year old child kept secret in Vale.

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College Fool's Fill - A Bastard or Something

Set-up:

Weiss had wanted to reform her Father's company and be a Huntress already, to bring justice- so a brutal attack and rape by a member of the White Fang only added fuel to that fire. The baby, though- the Baby was the reminder that she couldn't forget. Whereas most women would have given either up their dreams or an unwanted child, Weiss was stubborn (and rich) enough to try and keep both.

It wasn't something she could do on her own. She knew nothing about being a mother. But she had family, and family had money, and the money could pay discrete caretakers while she recovered and trained herself to become a Huntress. To care for Baby while she became strong enough to protect herself and take justice by her own hand.

It wasn't perfect- not even she could be the perfect mother and Huntress, especially as she hid Baby from the world that would stop her ambitions if they ever knew- but she made do. Baby was too young to even know the difference. But now that she's in Vale away from the family, and the struggles of juggling school, and the weekend minder is gone... someone new is needed. Just for the weekends she needs to study or to spend time with her team.

She didn't expect her unwanted admirer, Jaune Arc, to answer the add for a weekend babysitter.

Beat 1 – The Hook – Why the protagonist needs/wants romance.

Weiss is struggling to raise Baby, the product of rape. As a half-faunus, Baby is already a secret shame of the Schnees, a scandal waiting to happen- but one that Weiss wasn't willing to give up when Father Schnee suggested it. Part defiance to her father, part refusal to meet the baby-father's expectations... but also part shame of her past weakness. She's also hounded by the current knowledge that she's failing to be a mother because she relies on others to raise it for her.

Baby is a complicating facet for Weiss to deal with- all the more so because she can't bring herself to love it like she thinks she should, even thinking of it as 'Baby' rather than its name. Weiss knows she's on the path to being a failure of a single mother- raising the child with money rather than love or a family- but it's a rut she can't escape. The scars of the rape still hurt, even if she's healed physically, and her interest in romance of any sort is negative. Jaune in particular is a bane- his only merit being that he's too weak to be threatening in any way.

Beat 2 – The Meeting – The two characters meet and an attraction, or reason for one, is established.

Weiss puts out an add through proxies about having a baby-minder for the weekends, after wearing herself out trying to do it herself for several weeks in a row after her last minder quit. Her friends are worried about her disappearing, and her stress- she needs to spend more time with them not only for her own well-being, but to keep the secret of Baby safe in case people follow her. Unfortunately, Jaune is the one who answers her add.

Weiss, frozen in fear that the secret will leak, lies about why she's there: claiming that she's helping hide/raise her sister Winter's baby, rather than admit that Winter has been helping her raise her own. Weiss gives Jaune a baby-sitting job interview, expecting him to fail- but instead he passes well. And his reasons actually reassure Weiss.

Jaune needs the money- but also needs time away from Beacon and his team to study in relative peace. Having helped raise seven sisters, he has experience. The baby doesn't bother him, and responds happily to Jaune's child skills.

Weiss hires Jaune, after swearing him to secrecy about her role or connection to the baby- and making him stop the flirting while he's there. Jaune does, and they reach an arrangement.

Beat 3 – Conflict Point 1 – Wherein the protagonist realizes they should not be together, as it conflicts with their goal/dream/beliefs.

Over the next several weeks/few months, Jaune works out well. Weiss is able to spend more time with her team, having fun and friendship and less stress. She is happier. Meanwhile, Jaune focuses on his studies when he's not caring for the baby, and makes progress in his academics- which pleases Weiss, as he's not so dumb after all. Most of all, the Baby is clearly happy with Jaune, which makes Weiss feel she's doing something right.

Weiss and Jaune get closer by means of Baby, but their time is pretty limited: pretending not to know about this at school during the week, and with barely hand-off on the weekends when Weiss leaves after Jaune arrives and vice-versa. Over time, however, their hand-offs start to extend- with small talk, with Weiss offering some help/resources for Jaune's academics, and with some Baby driven events.

Weiss and Jaune start to be friends, even though she knows of Jaune's attraction, but that attraction is muted as Jaune keeps his word. Weiss is comfortable, and still not interested- while Jaune doesn't want to shake what he has. Jaune also grows increasingly attached to Baby, even as Baby grows close in return... but as Jaune's interest grows, he starts to harbor concern that he's yet to see Winter around to care for 'her' baby.

Beat 4 – Raising the stakes – Wherein the two characters are bound together, despite the conflict. They accept their love/relationship/attraction.

Jaune and Weiss gradually become friends in their own right, even amiable at school now that Jaune has improved thanks to his mystery weekend study job that he doesn't talk about. (Weiss vocally encourages everyone to respect his privacy.) Meanwhile, Weiss has relaxed and thawed thanks to spending time with her friends and away from the constant tension and reminders of Baby. It's comfortable- even if Weiss still flinches at any suggestion that she's too maternal (usually in the context of nagging after Ruby and her team). Because of this much-needed break, Weiss is open to trying more- and for the first time in a long time, chooses to spend half of her weekends with Baby rather than rely on Jaune. Rather than send Jaune away, Weiss invites/allows him to stay, and Weiss begins to find peace in returning to Baby and watching over the little household.

While Weiss is more at ease, Jaune is getting worse and more concerned- Baby is growing older, old enough to have firsts that family really should be there for, but there's no sign of mother or father. Jaune has respected Weiss's early icy warnings not to inquire, but the day that Baby calls Jaune 'Papa' is the day Jaune starts to freak out. Jaune tells Weiss- which sends her into a shock as she realizes how close Jaune has gotten to Baby and to her- and as Baby makes a habit of it, Jaune confronts Weiss.

Still not knowing Baby is hers, Jaune lambastes her (by proxy of Winter) for not caring for the baby or being there for it. Baby isn't just growing up without parents- Baby is actually being hurt and showing signs of neglect. Because Baby has been left to uncaring caretakers, two-year old Baby is at the level of a 1 year old child: barely starting to use words, identifying Jaune as 'papa' when 'mama' is usually at 9 months, and so on. Neglect is stunting the child, and will only grow worse- and Weiss is stricken, and initially in denial.

The week is a bad one as Weiss struggles with the prospect. She doesn't want to believe it- but when she goes to the safe house before the weekend, to check on the baby, she finds Jaune already there. Jaune has taken it on himself to look after Baby, but he's furious because he came to find that the week-day caretaker did nothing more than change diapers and do food and leave. Weiss has been getting scammed, and Jaune demands to talk to Winter about the baby.

Weiss refuses- and when Jaune turns his anger on her, for getting in the way of taking care of Baby, Weiss confesses that Winter is the wrong target. Weiss reveals the truth behind Baby's parentage, and takes responsibility for the neglect. Jaune is angry- can't really believe it- but for the first time Baby comes over to Weiss and calls her Mama and starts crying at her distress. It's a flood gate, with Weiss holding and apologizing to Baby, and Jaune believes in Weiss's wish to do better for Baby. After the Baby calms down, Jaune vows to continue helping Weiss, and to be there for Baby when she can't.

Beat 5 – Conflict Point 2 – The relationship looks good, all is working, but there is niggling doubt. The conflict continues to gnaw away at them, it's a false happiness.

Jaune and Weiss try to make up for lost time by spending more time with Baby. They can't do every day- not during the school week- but they alternate the days they can, going into Vale for vague reasons, to spend time with Baby at every opportunity. They also both spend their entire weekends with Baby. Jaune gives a crash course-learned from his siblings- on parenting, on child development- while Weiss starts to open up emotionally to Baby. Weiss and Jaune grow much closer to each other, although both claim that it's all about Baby. Weiss starts to become distracted in class, day-dreaming about taking care of baby and even fantasizing over how much better she feels... and Jaune is increasingly in those household dreams, dreams she finds she doesn't mind. Jaune, for his end, is trying to hide his renewed and growing attraction for Weiss- even as he's heads-over-heels for real- because of his earlier promise and his fear of earlier pushiness associating him with the rapist.

The tensions, though, come from the rising suspicion of their teams... and Baby's development as a faunus.

Team-wise, the friends are concerned and suspicious about the weekday escapades, and the weekends. Team JNPR is starting to wonder if Jaune is in something bad- something that produces a bit too much money, and is consuming his time. While RWBY is concerned about Weiss ditching them and keeping secrets: Weiss is happy, unlike her earlier weekend vanishings, but she's not being honest and keeping secrets. JNPR and RWBY are concerned- initial thoughts are drugs- but they don't quite put two and two together until they realize how close Weiss and Jaune have gotten in-school, despite the two not spending time together.

Baby-wise, though, Weiss begins to have issues with Baby. At first she's able to ignore it- she fantasizes that it'll grow up to be a human like Jaune- but when the faunus traits start to develop visibly, Weiss starts to regress. She can't see it without seeing Baby's father- and this relapse causes tension with Jaune. Weiss has a kaleidoscope of feelings when she looks at Baby- guilt hope worry affection fear pride anger shame vindication- while Jaune thinks it should only be love. When Jaune tries to help by having her play word association with the baby, Weiss can't think 'love' when she sees the baby. She thinks 'revenge,' and starts to worry about just why she kept the baby.

After a bit too much thinking one weekend, Weiss is on the edge of a freakout that she has kept Baby for all the wrong reasons... and the doorbell rings. It's Team RWBY and JNPR.

Beat 6 – The Black Hour– It all goes wrong, all hope is lost. The relationship seems doomed.

Disaster strikes in stages. It's not so bad at first- or wouldn't have been, if Weiss could be honest. The Teams tracked the two of them hear, and confront Jaune and Weiss... and, obviously, see the baby. Confused- and realizing this must be the reason- the teams ask whose... and when Weiss can't admit to it, Jaune keeps his earlier promise about keeping the truth a secret and lies, claiming the baby is his. He spins a yarn, reversing roles, that he's the parent and that Weiss has been helping him raise his kid in secret.

It's a shock... and not in a good way, because Jaune's reputation and standing promptly start to slide. Pyrrha is outright hurt by the deception, but even the rest are disappointed: that Jaune is irresponsible in having a child so young, flirted so blatantly with girls at Beacon rather than commit to the mother of his child, that he'd try to philander while hiding his own child. That he's incredibly reckless at trying to become a Hunter even when he has a child counting on him.

All of Weiss's sins- of abandoning the child during the school weeks (and his first part of the school year), of recklessly becoming a Hunter despite parenthood, of the child's stunted development- are laid on Jaune, even as Weiss herself is praised for her generosity and benevolence in helping Jaune out. It's a bitter fruit- all the more so as Weiss plays along, to his disapproving eye. But the worst moment- the bad black between them- is a comment Weiss makes about the faunus nature of Baby- can you imagine her willingly doing such a thing?

It was meant as a ironic lead-in, something that might make her friends question her tone and ask the important question that she wanted to answer but couldn't admit- but it comes across as a total rejection of the possibility of being a mother. The friends accept her at her word- but Jaune takes it that, after her recent doubts, she is rejecting Baby. Even when things settle down and the friends start to ooh at the baby, there's a clear rift between Jaune and Weiss. When the friends leave, Weiss tries to resist being taken away with them by claiming she should help... but Jaune rejects any obligation, throwing a subtle accusation that only someone who wants to be Baby's parent should stay behind. Weiss's team drags her away, and Jaune's eyes as he watches her leave is both hurt and angry as he protectively and possessively holds Baby.

The Black Moment leads to a period of deterioration where things get worse. Jaune's standing, and future, at Beacon quickly plummet: Jaune leaves every weekday to care for Baby, even skipping training practice or time with the friends. Teachers like Glenda openly question if such a mediocre student wouldn't be better off failing and dropping out to take care of the child, while the student rumor mill tears into Jaune as a student-father... in ways that not even the friends, believing what they do, are prepared or willing to deny.

Weiss is a guilty witness, all the more because the rift between her and Jaune continues to widen despite her efforts to help Jaune's grades by bringing him assignments and materials. At school he rebuffs her claiming he's focusing on class- and at Baby's he simply rebuffs her because he's mad. Mad at the accusations despite all he's done for Baby, mad at himself for telling the lie and taking the blame because he promised to keep the secret, mad at falling in love with her (again) because he believed that she honestly wanted to do better and would stand up for the truth if he told that lie. But most of all, mad again at her for rejecting Baby in front of their friends.

Jaune and Weiss fight- over the nature of their relationship, over Weiss's fears and issues, and even over Baby- but when Weiss tries to argue that 'my Baby' card, Jaune ripostes that he's been more of a parent that Weiss has. Hell, Jaune had to teach her! Jaune refuses to hand Baby over to her, and wants an explicit, unconditional, and public (at least in front of their friends) apology from Weiss- to Baby, to him- before he will give Baby back to her.

Weiss is conflicted by her feelings- she feels guilty, she knows she was in the wrong, but she can't say the sort of apology Jaune wants her to say because it wouldn't be honest. She won't say that she'd have Baby again if she had a choice. She can't look at Baby without seeing the father and thinking revenge. And she doesn't want to disclaim Jaune as the father- partly because she agrees he's been a better parent than her, but partly because she realizes that she got closer to Baby through Jaune, not just the other way around. If she tried to eject Jaune at this point, she'd be alone with Baby again.

Weiss leaves, mind a mess. She considers talking to her sister Winter, but Winter is more practical support than emotional. Winter suggest simply using her superior strength to take Baby by force, to take what she wants- but the thought of simply overpowering Jaune and taking Baby from him conjurs the memory of her rape, and the self-rigteousness of it calls to mind the rapist.

Talking with her sister doesn't help, so she talks with the next best thing: her friend and partner, Ruby. Who might not have been able to defend Jaune from the charges at school, but seems to be the one person who doesn't think any worse of him.

Ruby and Weiss talk, hitting a broad variety of potential topics, starting with Jaune's new reputation. Unlike most of the school, Ruby doesn't think worse of him for trying to become a Hunter even as he's Father: while Ruby lost her own mother, and knows the hurt as much as anyone of an absent parent, she's come to accept and respect what Summer did, and admires her for trying. She doesn't know if she'd try to do the same- but she can't hate Jaune for wanting to become a protector that would be strong enough to defend his child, even if he's weak and maybe shouldn't be a Hunter.

Talking about Jaune as a parent- and still becoming a hunter- opens the door for Weiss to talk about her own reasons. Weiss reflects on her own motivations for being a Huntress- that she wanted to have pride in the Schnees, to have the strength to bring justice for the unfairly wronged, and to protect the innocent. But then, one day- one day she was the one wronged, and she lost all of that. Obliquely referring to her rape, Weiss tells Ruby how she withdrew from the world, nominally to pursue her training, but how her view had changed since then. She didn't want strength to protect others- she trained to protect herself. That she felt so weak and ashamed, that instead of justice for others she wanted revenge for herself. And that even now she she's letting innocents be hated rather than stand up for them, and is just as guilty of hating one herself.

Weiss cries in the admission, a long-delayed breakdown she never had with her family. Ruby comforts her, and reassures her- that Weiss shouldn't be ashamed of herself when so many others see things to respect about her, that wanting justice for yourself isn't just revenge- but most importantly, that Weiss never hurt an innocent, no matter how much she disliked someone. That there was one innocent she protected from everyone, even herself, until she was ready... wasn't there?

More from intuition than reason, Ruby has figured it out- and asks Weiss that Jaune really isn't the father, is he? Weiss, emotionally purged in the catharsis, admits that Jaune isn't- even though she wishes he was. With Ruby's support, she rises. She might not be able to give Jaune the apology he wants, but she can at least give their friends the truth. She and Ruby set out to gather their friends, so that they can find Jaune.

That's even easier done than said. The friends aren't hard to find- in fact, they're all caught red-handed arranging all sorts of gifts and things to help out Jaune and Baby, a mix of a baby shower and a apology/reconciliation party. Though they don't approve of Jaune's actions, they still consider him a friend, and would rather help him than lose him. But Jaune is nowhere to be found. He took Crocea Mors from his room, but he's not at Beacon;s training grounds- and when they go to Baby's, Jaune isn't there either. Instead they find signs of forced entry and the place ransacked- and no sign of Jaune or Baby.

The Teams turn to investigator mode. Concern turns to fear when they find evidence of whose behind it- the White Fang. Weiss realizes that her more frequent visits- including the lessening of security measures as she and Jaune took over all the baby-minding duties during the week- must have made her more vulnerable to targeting despite her precautions. But that alone doesn't make sense for the White Fang to attack when she wasn't there. If was to attack her when she was alone, they wouldn't have waited until she was gone. And no one should have any idea what Weiss was hiding, unless-

Weiss freezes, even as the friends find a clue about Jaune- the remains of a draft letter Jaune had written for Weiss, thrown in the trash. Ruby interferes with the Team's attempt to read it, but Weiss reads it aloud, not wanting any more secrets.

In it Jaune reveals he's kidnapping the (that's scratched through- with a scrawl of 'our' also scratched out and a re-scrawl of 'my'-) Baby and taking it to the Arc family home. Jaune is abandoning Beacon in order to give Baby a better home and a loving family to grow up in, giving up his own dreams of becoming a Hunter so that he can protect one child's future. Jaune is understanding but defiant in tone in his letter to Weiss- apologizing for blaming her when he stepped into the lie himself, but meaning what he said about Baby. Jaune makes a reference to taking revenge, but only the best sort, on Baby on Weiss's behalf, and showing her the results when Baby is grown. He'll still only give Baby back before then if Weiss openly accepts Baby- but the scratched words show that Jaune dares/doubts/hopes Weiss will user her family resources to track him down to do just that. If not, he- Jaune's scribbles are chaotic, crossed out, and illegible.

If Weiss is to confirm what he meant to say- if she's to get Baby back- she's going to need to find him before he leaves, before the White Fang do. Off to the airport!

(Yang comically wonders why the White Fang would be after Jaune's kid. Blake elbows her and promises to explain it to her when she's older.)

Beat 7 – Resolution – Obstacles overcome, romance achieved, or tragic ending.

The Team make their way to the airship port- and even as they do, they see and hear the evidence of trouble before they arrive. Police sirens, news copters, and the sound of gunfire. Weiss gets a call from her sister Winter, who briefs them on the situation: the White Fang have attacked and attempted to hijack an airship for reasons unknown. Weiss knows, and asks her sister to start a media blackout while RWBY and NPR arrive on the scene. NPR start dealing with mooks while Ruby and Weiss make their way for the airship.

As they arrive, they see a dramatic scene: Jaune fighting off White Fang while cradling Baby. He's doing a decent job against mooks, but the lead faunus looks confident- and the sight of him nearly freezes Weiss, even before the faunus demands Jaune turn over his child. Jaune refuses, of course, and repeats the claim that Baby is his. The Faunus laughs, and says he'll take Baby back by force, just as he took the mother.

Yes, it's Weiss's rapist- and with Jaune handicapped by protecting Baby, Jaune is easily outmatched even as the ship begins to rise. Ruby and Weiss try to get onboard- but ultimately, with Ruby's help and assurance that Weiss is stronger and better than she used to be, only Weiss using her glyphs is able to jump enough to get onboard.

Weiss is able to stop the rapist from killing Jaune, and the confrontation as the rapist realizes who it is allows Jaune to slip below deck with Baby. The rapist and Weiss exchange threats and words- the rapist trying to shame and humiliate Weiss, twisting her words about looking forward to this day into a mocking rape innuendo. Weiss has the upper hand in their initial blows, but the rapist retreats under the deck to where he'll have an advantage in fighting her- threatening to take Baby and kill Jaune if she doesn't follow, and promising to rape her again if she does.

Weiss, mastering her fears and shaking hand, follows him and hunts.

It's a twisted game of hide and go seek, with the rapists taunts and provocations echoing and giving him misdirection. It's not just them, though- Jaune is there as well, and when Weiss is nearly worked into a fury he's able to shout encouragements while keeping himself and Baby out of sight. The rapist realizes Jaune's effect, and understands there's some sort of lover's spat, and turns his provocations towards Jaune: still recounting Weiss's shame, but doing it to provoke Jaune.

It works- and Weiss nearly burns Jaune alive when she sees him around a corner, and nearly flays him when he's without Baby. Lambasting him for leaving Baby undefended, she and Jaune have a mini-fight, with Jaune resolved that the rapist is evil and must die, and that Baby (and Weiss) won't be safe until he is. Baby is safe and hidden- and while Weiss just wants to find Baby and get out of there, Jaune realizes that the rapist must be using the intercom in the main room, and leaves to confront him.

Weiss finds Baby right where Jaune said- and feels pure, unadulterated relief that Baby is safe and unharmed. She wants to go- wants to take Baby and leave, with or without Jaune- but no sooner does the thought occur to her than Jaune, too, is on the intercom. His screams, at least- and the rapist, trying to provoke Weiss into revealing herself, threatens to make Jaune his bitch just like he made her.

The rapist taunts, and monologs, and counts down. It's simple, he claims: people are always one thing or another. Good, or evil. Together, or not. And Hunters... Hunters and families are mutually exclusive. They either abandon family to throw themselves into their job, or they abandon the job to put family above all else. Either way, someone loses out- and that's what the rapist was counting on. He monologs his plan- that, having learned that Weiss had the baby, he knew it would be a chain around her neck forever more. Either she'd treat it like a disgrace, hiding it in shame- perfect blackmail in the future- or she'd desperately cling to it and sacrifice everything else, making it the perfect bargaining chip. Either way, kidnapping the kid once he found it was such poetic justice- the perfect revenge on the Schnees, and the appropriate reunion between father and child-

Jaune actually breaks out of the chains and decks the rapist in a feat of aura power. It's not enough- he's subdued- but it's a suitably epic of 'not your Baby' that the rapist is infuriated and vows to break Jaune's will right then and there. He prepares to carry out his earlier threat- to rape Jaune then and there-

-but it's rather hard when icicle castration hits. Weiss, with Baby on back, makes a counter-proposal: she'll show how she can be both a Huntress and a mother, and the rapist will have no part in Baby's life. It's a curbstomp battle from thereon, and soon Weiss has the vile shit through the wall and balancing on the edge of the airship.

It's a classic execution dilemma- Weiss's revenge versus a formal justice. It's so tempting- and the rapist even taunts her that he'll just tell the truth in any trial, blowing the secret open- but Weiss won't compromise, and won't deny it any more. Baby is hers- she was raped- but he has no more power over her, and no claim on Baby, any longer. He may have provided half the genetic material, but he's not Baby's Father, even though she's the Mother. The difference is caring- and in doing so she'll have her revenge.

Weiss finally understands what her revenge means to her when she looks at Baby, what Jaune tried to point her towards: that the best revenge is living well. She had Baby out of defiance: defiance to her father, who was ashamed, and defiance against the Rapist, who wanted to shame her. Instead she'll subvert that, turn Baby into something proud of: proof that the Schnees will rise above the anti-faunus bigotry, and proof that her justice won't become the sort to blame a child, unborn or otherwise, for someone else's sins.

The Rapist tried his best to hurt her- tried to turn her into something that would hurt others- but he failed to beat her. Weiss's revenge will be to rise above it, to be both a Huntress and be a mother- and to raise a half-faunus child who will be proud to call itself a Schnee.

The Rapist, taken aback by the resolve, is furious- and makes a last attack on Weiss and the Baby. Weiss shields Baby with herself- and Baby vomits over her shoulder, into the Rapist's face, messing his attack. His attack ends up being a grab, an attempt to pull the two overboard. It fails when Jaune lends a hand, and removes the Rapist's hands, with a swing of Crocea Mors.

"Never. Touch. My family. Again."

And with that- and a kick to good measure- the Rapists falls off the airship.

It's resolution time, as the adrenaline rush fades away for both Jaune and Weiss. Stumbling back into the airship cabin, leaning on each other for support, they make it into relative safety before finally trying to talk to each other.

Weiss wants to speak, but Jaune wants to show something first. Pulling out his wallet, and a picture of it, Jaune shows Weiss a picture of his family- and of the sister(s) he mentions raising. From the hair color and age, it's immediately apparent that one of these children is not like the other one- and that Jaune is the only blonde. Jaune confesses that he's a bastard's son himself- but that his family accepted him all the same, and so that sort of acceptance means everything to him. It made him angry when Weiss was rejecting the child, but now that she's more than accepted it? She's amazing- just as he thought when she first confessed the truth but wanted to do right by Baby.

Jaune apologizes for the fight- for this one and the last. For being stupid and confronting the rapist and becoming the hostage, but also for being so angry at Weiss. He feels he was being self-centered, wanting Weiss to stand up for the baby and for him, and is ashamed. But Weiss is having none of it. Jaune wasn't wrong- about the Rapist needing to be stopped, or about Baby. She was so fixated on the all-or-nothing about loving or hating the baby that she wasn't accepting it, and a part of her knows that. She's glad someone was willing to stand up for Baby- and even gladder Jaune was willing to stand up to her. She thanks him.

Jaune laughs, and guess that means she won- even if she already has Baby back, and so he can't hand Baby back. A bit nervously- a shout-out to the first Baby encounter- he asks if he can hold and look at Baby. When he does, he says he can't see any of the Rapist in Baby- but he sees the mother in her eyes, and that's why Baby is beautiful. Awkwardly laughing at his semi-confession that this all was- especially when Weiss asks about the unwritten part of the farewell letter, Jaune jokes that he can't imagine Baby would do something like projectile vomiting into the enemy- but Weiss jokes that Baby takes that after the Father.

It's the closest to a mutual confession, and acceptance, the two are likely to get, and they lean together... when the radio squakes and interrupts them. It's Winter, reaching out to the airship, with Team RWBY on the line. They're concerned and curious and ask if Weiss found the baby. Of course she did- it's her Baby.

And the Father? Winter asks hesitantly.

Weiss and Jaune trade a look, and Weiss holds his hand and runs a thumb over his knuckles. Got his hand right here.

End

(Except not: Epilogue Teaser)

Jaune and Weiss get off the airship on the far end, at Jaune's original destination. They're a little disheveled, but griping/bantering in good cheer. Who would have thought Baby would get airsick? Well, clearly takes after Father. Why are their clothes so disheveled? Because of her choice of sleeping arrangements when Baby was asleep. Remind her why didn't they turn the airship around? Because Weiss wanted to meet the family rather than go back to Beacon immediately.

And low and behold, here they are- the Arcs, awaiting the prodigal son. And his baby. But they were totally not expecting the girl!

Weiss and Baby gets a Arc family welcome from the many (younger) sister. Mrs. Arc notices the faunus features, and has a look with Mr. Arc, but Jaune's pride in Baby when showing him to the sisters gets smiles. As Weiss watches Jaune and his different-hair-colored sisters, Mrs. Arc comes up to her and gives her a hand in solidarity- and whispers her own secret for carrying on strong.

More love, and more children to share it with.

Well, at least Weiss can afford that.

[Fin]

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Coeur's Impression:

This is pretty much what I had in mind when giving the prompt, so it's one of those rare cases where neither of us subverted the idea. I don't know if that means we were both on the same wave length, of if I sabotaged CF a little by making the prompt too leading... ah well.

It's a good fic anyway.

Weiss' emotions feel about right for the story, the tale of a confused mother unsure about what she feels for the being she has brought into the world. I liked that her family does something to help, as often the Schnee's are played off as the typical wild-card evil.

Jaune's inclusion in BABBY's life is logical enough, and although I actually really thought it was stupid and maybe even cruel of him to pretty much up and kidnap the child... I can't say it's OoC, so that's fine. Writers shouldn't be afraid to let their characters make mistakes, so long as it is in character for them to make those mistakes. In this scenario it just goes to show how fallible and human both Weiss and Jaune are.

One thing I would have perhaps liked to see is some kind of event between Blake and Weiss later, where Blake perhaps comes to realise that Weiss' hate of faunus isn't quite as racist as she first thought. Only for Weiss to say Blake has no reason to feel bad - but that's a niggling thing and so incredibly small in the grand scheme of things.

The story works, the plot structure is solid and that's what counts.

And thus begins College Fool's reveal of his subconscious fear of aircraft. Oh we'll see this happen a few times more.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Same wavelength, Coeur. Same wavelength.

This was one of those ideas that while the plan came together within the time-limit, the writing just wanted to flow. Too many of the scenes in my head wanted to be described, and so I did. I actually liked this idea enough that I considered posting it as a stand-alone- something akin to An Affair or Something- but decided not to since it was in the context of this game and I didn't really feel like making it longer. I might one day- in which case you read it here first- but for now, I'll leave it here.

I like this story- and the dynamics involved. It might not be taboo, but it definitely touches on uncomfortable territory of ethics- of rape, of abortion, single parenting, of career vs. home balance, of hurt and healing, and the topic of what makes someone a 'parent.' All great topics- and things I tried to approach in a non-judgemental way, sort of how I approached things in An Affair or Something. Affair had a theme of 'no villains'- and while this one definitely has a villain, most of the drama (and the flaws) come not from him, but from the characters. Baby doesn't get harmed by the rapist- Baby is harmed by both Weiss and Jaune, who have complex but ultimately good intentions for it.

I like how Jaune and Weiss turned out here- both have their merits, and their flaws, and it was a good experiment in a 'single mother' romance of sorts. There's a deliberate sort of inversion of their growth across the story: Weiss is obviously struggling for completely legitimate reasons, but her flaws are the more pronounced early on, and the story is really about her overcoming them. Jaune's flaws are less so- flirting aside, he starts as the morally superior character who has better intentions for Baby/Baby's good in mind, but in a sense he descends as the story goes on- getting angry about the neglect, then telling a lie and being upset when Weiss went along with it, and then kidnapping the baby. It's all justifiable- and as far as Weiss and Jaune went, it was intended for them both to be justified even when they were in the wrong.

The romance angle was unconventional, but I felt applicable. Weiss's trauma provided a good context- without overwhelming her character, and handicapping her potential. Weiss isn't relegated to 'rape victim', to be forever afraid of men for fear of triggering- she's strong, and overcomes fear, and not to be treated like glass. But Baby's the real thing- the means by which they bond, and a catalyst for them becoming a family even before they're in a relationship. Jaune's line to the rapist- claiming Weiss and Baby as his family- is definitely audacious, but it's a continuation of the theme being set up by their earlier conflict: the idea that family isn't just blood (or else the rapist would be the Father in an emotional sense), but presence and and emotion, and that Jaune has been that for Baby (and for Weiss), a part of their lives that Weiss wants after he's proven himself and been key to helping her bond with Baby and deserve to be called 'Mother.'

Eh. Hard to describe. Point is- I think it fits, and adds to the story.


	11. The Curious Courtship of Jaune Arc

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – The Curious Courtship of Jaune Arc: After the dance Jaune gets an admirer who seeks to woo him in an old-fashioned manner.

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Couer's Fill:

Title: The Curious Courtship of Jaune Arc  
Summary: Life after the dance soon returned to normal for Jaune and Team JNPR, but when mysterious love letters start arriving for the blonde hero - life takes a turn for the unusual. "I have a secret admirer? I have to find them!"  
Characters: Jaune, Ren, Nora, Pyrrha

Of course, it's a romance - so it's time for the 7-beat madness to strike once more. It really doesn't ever go wrong - everything just fits so damn well on it.

Beat 1 - Life after the dance has changed little for Jaune Arc, and Team JNPR. Despite his heart-to-heart with Pyrrha, Jaune is still single - and things are awkward between them. A few people nod and grin at him after his comedy at the ball, but otherwise he is still as single and frustrated as ever.

Beat 2 - The two groups are eating at the cafeteria when Ren arrives, a little late from his shower. He has with him a dagger and a pink envelope, which he hands to Jaune - to some teasing from Yang. Ren sighs and explains when he left the room it was nailed to their door with this dagger, and is addressed to Jaune. Weiss comments that it smells of expensive perfume, and Yang shouts that it's a love letter, and demands he read it. Jaune blushes and refuses, saying he's never received anything like that before, and isn't going to share it. Yang tries to steal it, but Jaune runs away to read it in private.

The letter is almost old-fashioned in its content, speaking of beating hearts - the attraction the writer felt upon seeing Jaune's bravery at the dance, and how they didn't dare reveal themselves. In the end they penned this letter, to express the thoughts they dare not speak face-to-face. From, your secret admirer.

Jaune is shocked, and wants to find the person.

Beat 3 - Jaune is determined to find his secret admirer, trying to enlist Ren's help. Ren is reluctant, saying that it could be anyone at all - and does Jaune really want to date just anyone. "What if it's a really ugly woman?" Ren asks. "Silly Ren, this is Beacon - I don't think I've even seen a woman under a 9/10." Ren c*** his head and thinks, "You're... actually right. That's kinda weird really."

Jaune and Ren, with a little help from RWBY try to track the girl through the weapon, while Jaune still receives love letters from them. Meanwhile Pyrrha is feeling increasingly bummed, because the dance was supposed to be her chance to reveal her feelings, but due to her inaction - Jaune is now running around chasing after another woman.

She tries to help him though, despite how much it hurts her to do so.

Beat 4 - The love letters continue, and yet Jaune is no closer to his admirer. They come to the conclusion that it might be Velvet, since she fits the shy angle - would think Jaune brave for coming to her defence, and clearly keeps some weapon hidden in that box. Some comedy here from how Team RWBY stalks Velvet and Team CFVY, until Coco gets tired and pretty much captures and interrogates them. Coco says Velvet isn't into Jaune, as she is already taken.

Yang tells her to prove it, and Coco gropes Velvet while making out with her, causing Team RWBY to flee in embarrassment.

Pyrrha is glad to see it isn't Velvet, and takes the opportunity to get a little closer to Jaune. He is bummed that the search isn't going well and she tries to take his mind off it by the two of them going out for some light lunch in Vale. The two have a decent-enough day, but it turns sour after a few people start taking pictures of her and harassing the two of them.

Beat 5 - The love letters start to talk about the two of them meeting up, Jaune is enthused, but also panicked. "S***, what if I make a bad impression!? I'm no good with women!" Ren is exasperated "Finally the end is in sight." Nora is just amused, meanwhile Pyrrha is feeling the pressure. She has to win his affections before he meets this woman - Jaune is so keen to like this mysterious suitor, that she is sure he would accept them immediately.

She realises she literally has to confess to him immediately, or there will be no hope whatsoever. She tries to do so over what she hopes will be a romantic dinner, and gets Jaune to talk about himself. But one final time her nerves betray her and she can't do it.

Pyrrha knows she's lost her chance.

Beat 6 - A final letter arrives, and Jaune says she wants to meet him. RWBY encourages him, with Weiss personally congratulating him, and thanking him for helping her with Neptune. Nora whispers to Pyrrha that this is her last chance to do something - and to Nora's frustration Pyrrha's last chance is used to hug him and say good luck.

The teams retire, sans Jaune who has gone to meet his beau. Pyrrha is nearly in tears and Ren and Nora aren't sure what to do. Nora is about to go and comfort her, when Ren stands and asks if he can speak with Pyrrha outside.

The two have a frank conversation, with Ren saying she had multiple opportunities and kept squandering them. He is honest, and in some ways cruel. Pyrrha says she knows it all, but lost her last chance.

Ren says that isn't true. He managed to spy a little of the letter, says after all the s*** Jaune dragged him through he'd be damned if he was kept in the dark for the ending. They are going to meet on the roof at 9pm, and it's 8:55 now.

Pyrrha runs off.

Beat 7 - Pyrrha arrives on the rooftop at 8:58, to Jaune's confusion. She knows she has only two minutes to explain herself so pours her emotions out to him - honestly telling him how she feels, and how special he is. The clock ticks nine, and desperately she kisses him, trying to convey all her feelings.

Jaune is shocked, and explains that with her silence after the dance he assumed she had changed her mind. He had wanted them to become something more, but she went cold and quiet around him. She begs his forgiveness, saying she was shy.

It's 9:08 by the time they are done, and Jaune starts to realise there is no paramour, saying someone probably played a sick trick on him. Pyrrha asks to see one of the letters, and Jaune hands her the first letter, which he always kept.

Pyrrha reads it out loud, going red. She stutters and admits that she never sent it, but it's basically her diary entry after the dance - where she explained in her diary why she loved him. Almost word for word. Humiliated, she asks who could have done this. Before Jaune pushes it aside and asks why it matters, kissing her once more.

The scene pans to the door to the rooftop, where Ren is leaning against the wall, a smug grin on his face. Nora is nearby with a camera, recording the romantic moment. "You know Renny, you're really scary when you go into scheming mode like this."

"As if they would have gotten anything done on their own." Ren comments, flipping the first dagger around his fingers, before sliding it into a hidden sheathe in his jacket.

Story End.

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C.F.'s Impression:

An exceptionally strong romance, and possibly the strongest pure-romance yet in terms of structure from start to finish. It's practically already written- if there's any story someone reading this collections for ideas should take and flesh out, it's this one.

For Arkos shipping, this is probably the best you'll ever get from Coeur, or myself, or anyone for that matter. There are a lot of little touches here that I like- how the love letters are played, how Team RWBY gets involved in the hunt, the red herring of Velvet, how Pyrrha tries but keeps failing to seal the deal all the way, even as attempts (like the lunch date) are marred by her fame. It's perfectly in-character for all of them- with the comical exception of the CFVY element- and the resolution as appropriately dramatic and romantic. Plus, sneaky Ren- always a plus.

It's almost enough to make you forget that neither Coeur or I actually like Arkos shipping. In fact, it wasn't even what I had in mind when I gave this prompt- I wasn't thinking of 'secret admirer', but someone actually outright (evenly openly) courting Jaune, but as if their knowledge of romance came from (old) books. A bit of comedy between the anachronisms, the treatment of Jaune as the damsel to be wooed, and the social oddity- something I thought would be great for Penny (whose understanding of social interaction could come from books) or Ruby (socially awkward, a fan of romanticized fairy tales).

I may push this prompt at Coeur again one day- for the reasons and intent above- but this was an excellent Arkos love story.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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Holy crap an Arkos, ugh i feel dirty. Honestly though this is the only way I see it going down, because no matter how you look at it both Jaune and Pyrrha are too shy to get together even after the dance. Both will likely get cold feet and get nothing done. At first when I got the prompt i did think of a third party, perhaps Winter - but then I started thinking "who do I imagine would be really old fashioned when it came to love letters?" And instantly Ren came to my mind.

So I made it him :D - in a sense.

There's not much to say on this one, it's my HFP - my hated F*** pairing, but I can still write it if I need to. The structure is very sound, as it's fit to the 7-beat romance structure pretty much perfectly. And the twist at the end is perfectly "feelgood" to bring it to an end in an overdose of sugar.

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Author(s) Note:

So, we just wanted to put something out-

We're fine, and even encourage, people to take up these ideas if they like- because the ideas that we come up with that we ourselves intend to write, aren't being posted here. One of the prompts Coeur has given C.F., and two of the prompts C.F. has given Coeur, are on our 'intended writing' plates- and we'd rather not spoil them here. So this game really does help with our intended/future writing!

But- as for reviewer-requested fills. Coeur had high hopes when we started, but I'm afraid some of you have broken his heart. The one closest to getting selected was on the grounds of how bad it was, lol. Terribad, if you will.


	12. Charmed

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Winter Schnee always knew what she wanted, but when what you want is ten years younger than you - and obsessively into your little sister. Well, then things can become awkward.

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College Fool's Fill - Charmed

Winter Schnee visits little sister Weiss at Beacon in a meeting that is as tense as it is cordial. Winter and Weiss haven't gotten along in years- don't see eye-to-eye on justice and corporate reform and what's best for SDC and Remnant- and this visit doesn't change that. And Winter expected that.

She didn't expect to be so suddenly charmed by a bumbling, awkward, but well-intentioned... Ruby Rose.

Winter practically stumbles from their first meeting, fighting to maintain composure and make sense of the feels. Ruby is absolutely everything her sister never could be: bumbling, clueless, but utterly honest. And honestly, that's not something Winter can see Weiss wanting to be partnered with in the first place- and the tale of initiation sinches the gut feeling. It's such a shame... and that's when Winter realizes- she wants to know Ruby better.

Weiss and Ruby have their acrimonious friendship, full of teasing and taunting, but from Winter's perspective (which is to say, whenever Weiss and Winter are in proximity), there's nothing warm about it. Weiss tries to curtail Ruby's bumbling and is frustrated- but the more she does, the more Winter wants to see Ruby free. She's curious, she's interested, and Ruby's attempts to be friendly aren't fake.

What should have been a one-shot meeting becomes more as Winter stays longer than intended, finding justifications to extend her stay. As she does, she tries to make excuses to talk and spend time with Ruby more- but can only do so on the pretext of her sister. A private interview to 'see how her sister is', or inviting Ruby along to a private Weiss-Father telecon, and then entertaining Ruby in the meantime. The more time she spends with Ruby, the more she wants Ruby as her own friend- and the less she's willing to tolerate Weiss's apparent indifference and lack of appreciation. Even as Ruby is clearly really into Weiss as a friend, wanting her respect and to impress her and make her smile- things that Winter knows she'd do if given the chance.

Eventually Winter feels enough is enough- and spirits Ruby away for a day out. Winter, harsh business persona breaking, is torn between the pragmatic/amoral corporate approach- deceiving and practically kidnapping Ruby- and the lonely person as desperate for friendship as her little sister. She tries to take Ruby out for a best day ever- have fun, show what the Schnee resources could do for Ruby- but while Ruby has fun she misses/longs for Weiss's company, and wants Weiss to be there.

Winter snaps, and psuedo-confesses her feelings/intents for Ruby: Weiss isn't the friend Ruby deserves, she deserves better, she deserves Winter and Winter deserves her, considering that Winter has spent far longer and worked harder than Weiss to actually manage the company into better areas rather than run away to play hunter. She offers Ruby a chance to come with her- Schnee money can help Ruby become a Huntress as well as Beacon, and Winter wouldn't restrict Ruby or try to make her be prim and proper.

It's the black moment, because Ruby won't reject Weiss (or Beacon), and Winter returns Ruby to Beacon. No one was harmed, but Winter is broken- even if she fakes otherwise when she returns Ruby to Weiss who was waiting impatiently for their return- and leaves with no intent to come back. She ignores calls from Weiss that night, and plans to leave the next morning, never to return- and when Weiss and Ruby try to see her off at the airport, she coldly dismisses them both with the same cold courtesy she and Weiss have had.

Her departure is marred, however, by a White Fang attack- she's stayed too long, been too obvious, and the terrorist group is taking the opportunity to try and assasinate one of the hated Schnees. Winter, not a Huntress, can only rely on security and wait for the inevitable- whatever that is.

It's a heroic rescue by Weiss and Ruby, to Winter's surprise that she came back- and that Ruby had them both sneak aboard the ship as a stowaway. She thought she didn't want to be friends- but Ruby says she does, but she doesn't see it as an either-or thing. Ruby thinks Winter and Weiss don't get along because they don't know eachother. Weiss didn't know what Winter felt, what Winter confessed to Ruby- but Ruby doesn't think Winter knows Weiss either. Ruby talks about the other side of Weiss- the one behind the facade, the acerbic but silly and sweet girl who tries to look out for Ruby in her own way.

It's a side that Winter never saw because Weiss was always trying to be on her best behavior, to not disappoint Winter- and Ruby believes that Weiss wants to connect with Winter, and doesn't see why they can't all be friends.

Weiss enters the scene- or the reoccuring fight- muttering that Ruby wasn't supposed to say all that, but she doesn't deny it. As things calm down, Ruby ushers them into the same room, forcing them to sit and talk in private for the first time since Winter arrived.

Winter and Weiss tentatively connect, over Ruby. Winter admits she likes Ruby and wants her as a friend- and Weiss admits that she appreciates Ruby dearly, even if she is a klutz. The two talk- about their jealousies and resentments towards eachother- but also come to terms that they aren't so different. Their sense of justice differ, but they both want to improve and reform the company in their own way. Weiss admits/confesses that she went to Beacon because she wanted to protect the Company, and her family from the White Fang- and that includes Winter, who she looked up to as an initial inspiration as a strong future CEO. Winter apologizes for trying to steal Ruby- and Weiss aggrees they can both be friends- and both of them sigh when Ruby not-so-silently cheers from where she was eavesdropping.

Ruby and Weiss go back to Beacon, but Winter starts regular calls- and Ruby gets to end the story talking with Jaune about how she has two great friends in the schnees.

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Coeur's Impression:

I didn't expect CF to take the prompt in this direction, but that's fine - and is something others giving prompts might want to keep in mind. If you try to railroad someone too much then it's not a challenge to come up with a story, because you've already given one almost in full.

The friendship between Ruby and Weiss was an interesting angle, particularly since early on it is a rocky one, giving Winter chance to see it as unfair. You do have to feel bad for the older Schnee, as it's true that she has had more responsibility than Weiss by the sound of it. As cold and business-like as Weiss is, she is likely not the direct heir - and is more the spare. Why else would she be allowed to not only go and be a performer, but then go to Beacon for as dangerous a job as a huntress?

While i did like the pressure placed on Winter by Weiss and Ruby's friendship, I would have liked to see some pendulum pressure the other way too. Perhaps the SDC demanding her return and pulling her in two directions at once. That added pressure trying to pull her away could have worked to make the desperate attempts to win Ruby's friendship all the more poignant.

That said, it still works out - and continues CF's fear of Bullheads with yet another disaster on one. Last time I said it was the start, but I remembered in the "Jaune adopts by Raven" scenario there was a Bullhead crash there too - so I suppose we are 3 for 3 right now lol.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Lol. Coeur hasn't even seen the draft of one shot I started (and unfortunately lost) a few months ago. Guess what the Remnant equivalent to the August 22 French Thalys train attack was?

(But seriously- airship attacks are convenient plot devices because they justify tension, separation from authorities and outside forces that could resolve a conflict, and allow for isolation to force characters to interact.)

Onto this-

It's hard to write for a character who has no screen time yet- hence why I wanted to avoid any romance, and stick to a 'safer' neutural ground of 'the estranged family,' using Weiss as a model. I'll be more comfortable writing for Winter when we actually see her. That said, we're not completely without characterization for Winter- character designs are capable of implying a lot about a character by what they do and do not draw attention to.

Take Weiss as an example: Weiss's design emphasizes her role as an heiress/elite figure with the emphasis on class and status. White, the color of purity, with a prim business suit top (emphasizing her professionalism and maturity) mixed with the skirt (emphasizing- along with her lack of chest, her youth/immaturity). The scar on her eye indicates an involuntary wound- she's hurt and vulnerable- while the off-set ponytail to the other side hints at something rebelliousness beneath the otherwise picture-perfect appearance (her defiance to her father, her hidden sillyness for when she let's her hair down).

Winter is older, obviously, but more mature and settled as well: don't expect the volatility of her little sister. Her full-length coat and pants emphasize her age compared to Weiss's bare knees and skirt, even as the tail reminds us of the femininity lurking behind the masculine, powerful coat that exagerates the size of her arms and biceps, even as the high cut, modest shirt de-sexualizes her bosom even as the under-vest emphasizes her feminitiy. This is a woman- a strong, mature woman- but what's most interesting is the head. Unlike Weiss, who has an offset ponytail, Winter has a centered bun. This is a woman who is past childish asymmetric rebellion: her hair is up, focused and adult. The only asymmetry about her is the bang over her eye- opposite of the one that has Weiss's scar. This suggests some secretive duality she has with Weiss- perhaps a covered hurt of her own- but also that she intends to hide this aspect of herself, and her gaze, from the world. This ties in to the insinuation of what Coeur mentioned: Weiss, the younger, is the heiress. Winter, the older and more mature one, may be the spare. There's gotta be a story there.

It's not perfect, but it's enough to work on the 'estranged family' role for Weiss, particularly if we emphasize the similarities. Winter if what Weiss could grow into- if she ditches the rebellious ponytail (acrimony with the family) and hides the eye- but this also means Weiss is what Winter may have once been- and Weiss, as we know, is lonely and grows close to Ruby. What appeals to one, may have been what the other was wanting all along.

Now, does Ruby count as obsessively into Weiss? Not really- not outside of shipping goggles at least- but if I'd used Jaune during his obsession phase, then the similarity-based characterization I talked about- would crush any real character pull. Winter's base of attraction wouldn't have a root- at least we know Weiss and Ruby can be close- and it'd be pretty weak. Another stumbling bock was the in-setting time limit: busy-Winter's appearance is only going to be for days, while Jaune's character development towards someone worth crushing on (and not hiding it in revulsion/shame) is a matter of weeks.

That said- I could see myself writing a follow-up prompt/fill to this one day, in the spirit of the prompt- with Winter falling/crushing unreasonably on Jaune, to much awkwardness. And I'd probably have written it too, if there was a single word change in the prompt: ' _ **was** _ obsessively.'

So- yeah. Feel free to send me that prompt again sometime in the future, Coeur. I might even make it a sequel to this one.

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Coeur's Author Note:

Hey guys, Coeur here, thanks for the prompts you've been sending through - I thought I would address some of them briefly, but not specifically. Now I am looking at them, and perhaps CF is doing the same. That said we have quite a bit of build-up of others we've done before we get to them. So while you may not see any responded to immediately that doesn't mean we've ignored them.

What I would like to say though is that if you look at the prompts CF and I have given one another, in many cases they are quite vague and open to interpretation. And that is no error on our parts. If you try to be too specific then we're not going to be interested in them, because it's not us "coming up with a story that fits" but us just following the instructions you've given to one linear ending.

E.g. The prompt I gave to CF of "Jaune gets lost as a child and is found by Raven, who assumes he is an unwated child" - could be taken in so many different ways. I didn't express a genre, a pairing, what she would do. It was ALL of up CF.

But if I gave him a "Ruby falls in love with Weiss, but Weiss' family won't allow it. So they try to break things off, but in the end they love one another too much." ... Well, that isn't a prompt as he likely won't have too much freedom over how to work with it. of course there are little things you can do, like change the reasons for why the SDC doesn't like Ruby - but still, it's too leading.

Sometimes the best prompts are the short ones.

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College Fool's Author Note:

Coeur says 'sometimes'. I say 'almost always.' If your prompt is a paragraph, chances are it's not a prompt at all- its you asking us to write your story for you.

I'm going to pick out my favorite prompt from the reviews as an example: SwordOfAllCreation's prompt: "Jaune? Who's that?" Superficially, that's a prompt for an amnesia-based fill- but _who's_ amnesia isn't specified. It could be Jaune... or Pyrrha. In fact, it doesn't need to be amnesia at all- it could be the words of a total stranger or a first encounter. That's the sort of open-endedness we're aiming for. I'm far more ;olr;u to not subvert the intent here- I'd actually write an amnesia one- than I am to rebel in distort your prompt in a way you weren't thinking. So if you want a prompt to be considered, be like Sword of All Creation.'

I'm also going to ask that everyone give some thought in how your approach any fill request: Coeur is a prolific writer in his own write, and only shared this game of ours because I asked. I am not, but I am a busy person IRL, and this is a hobby of my free time. If you post a review which is nothing more than you spamming fill requests- that's not a review of of our work, giving thoughts and feedback on your likes and dislikes. That's you treating us like your personal fill generators- especially if you're giving us your plots to write for you.

Think about how that comes across to us.


	13. Too Cool for School

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Teams JNPR and RWBY get a mission to infiltrate another academy. And not the Hunter kind. Can a bunch of world-beating teenagers (and Jaune) really fit in and keep from blowing their cover among the normal people?

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Couer's Fill: Too Cool for School

Initial Thoughts: FML - It's a highschool fic, I am going to burn in Hell... Right, let's get onto this!

Summary: Infiltration missions are rare for hunters, there aren't many opportunities to pretend to be a Beowolf - but when a delicate task requires some young hunters to infiltrate a Vacuo Academy - the non-hunter kind... well, Team RWBY and JNPR seemed the obvious choice.

Genre: SATIRE - I.e. Taking the p*** out of university life. So it could easily be offensive to those in it.

Plot:

Intro / Setting:  
Team RWBY and JNPR are bored out of their minds after a lack of action since the White Fang and Cinder went under the radar. It's been nothing but lessons for months, and the lack of action is really grating at them. But when Yang spots a mission request for eight teenagers between the ages of 17-20 for a long-term mission in Vacuo? With that kind of pay!? Well... it only seemed right to bring it to the others' attention.

The two teams meet with Ozpin to enquire as to what it is about. There they meet with Ironwood and another man, who is apparently the Headmaster of the Vacuo Hunter Academy. Vacuo is facing a big problem in that many of the teenagers coming from a certain College / University are turning to crime son after graduation, with much of it being related to extremist action and narcotics smuggling.

They've tried to investigate, but all the students go quiet whenever hunters or police arrive, and even the innocent people (as must be around 95% of the school) still daren't say anything. Ironwood mentions that it's an age-old problem of kids not wanting to tattle to authority, and that if they want to find out who is subverting these impressionable children to crime, then they need a more subtle approach.

The two teams are to infiltrate the University as new students, where they will be cheated into sharing dorms together for convenience. The teachers suspect that people are being converted through clubs or social groups - basically a frat group or a sorority that is convincing its members to become criminals. They need to split up and join as many as they can, rising up them in an attempt to be "approached" by the criminals.

Ozpin says their team is perfect due to the varied nature of their appearances and attitudes, meaning that there will likely be someone all of the groups would be interested in recruiting.

The two teams agree, thinking it a relatively safe mission with good pay - extra credit, and promises of no lost grades for the time off. It should only be two to three months.

Middle Plot:  
The two groups would arrive at the University around chapter 3-4 (fairly early in) where they are settled into their dorm. They don't have any real plans, but between them they agree to try and split up and generally worm their way into whatever groups seem ready to accept them. From there they can try to narrow down where the criminals came from - and try to join that group.

Things get a little weird from there. The humour in this would likely come from a parody/satire of university life - wherein each of the characters somehow finds themselves invited into groups that are a complete opposite of their general nature.

Jaune - Due to his blonde hair, blue eyes and hunter physique, Jaune is seen as a heart-throb, and his physical (aura) prowess leads to him becoming a rising star on the athlete side of things. He is stalked by women, and encouraged to bully nerdier teens - which he kind of has to to keep his cover up.

Blake - Thanks to her pale skin and clothing, Blake is inducted into the Goth/Emo fraternity, surrounded by teenagers who are incredibly over-dramatic, and seem to enjoy painful music and crying about how unfair life is. Blake has to pretend to be overly-emotional, semi-suicidal and otherwise bizarre. Her fraternity insists on giving her the embarrassing nickname Black Widow, and won't call her by her name at all. Much teasing from Yang in private.

Weiss - Weiss, due to her attitude is somehow inducted into a Nonbinary Genders group, which focuses on equal rights for those who don't see gender in binary terms. She barely understands the terminology - but is somehow now a poster girl for it all. Cis? Xenogender, Neutrois? What the Hell does it all mean? She sits with Blake in the evenings, trying to figure out what she has agreed to during the day, while they both read dictionaries.

Ruby - Ruby is accepted into a computer games society, and becomes the Grill Gamer. Her basic knowledge of engineering (for weapons) means she can work with computers which makes her super popular. Also she is very "sm3xy" apparently. She is treated as a nerd by many, though few can deny her sheet cuteness. Ruby gets so into her role that she later leads a revolution against Jaune and the bullies in an attempt to overthrow them.

Ren - Against all odds Ren is drafted into a party/drinking fraternity who just want to have fun all day. He is regularly smashed, put through the worst hazing and always features a hangover. Yang tries to help him learn to drink, but to little avail.

Nora - Nora becomes a member of a politics sorority, who aim to become next world leaders to revolutionise the world. Through shenanigans Nora takes control of the sorority, becoming their Queen.

Pyrrha - Pyrrha is accepted into a stereotypical beautiful girls sorority, where they consider themselves queens and otherwise scheme against one another and talk about boys and makeup. The shallow nature of the group drives her up the wall - yet she is forced to play along with it.

Yang - Yang becomes a member of a study sorority who are focused on GPA and academics. She is forced to act incredibly nerdy, and demure. Due to her looks and relative low status as a nerd, she is equal parts bullied and harassed by people, and is even forced to become a more popular jock's girlfriend - which turns out to be Jaune. The two are regularly made to act lovey together, despite that her eyes promise him punishment later. She spends the evenings making his life miserable for his bullying/harassment. "Every kiss is a punch to the face vomit-boy. Believe me."

The story ends as each character slowly gets more "into" their groups despite their skepticism. Rather than find the criminals and solve the problem they end up creating a University-wide civil war where they fight for control over the campus.

Computer-Gamer hackers hack into drones and sprinkler systems. Goths storm the dorms with black nail polish. Nerds topple towers of books, and the sports teams scrum and tackle their way through preppy girls.

There is a final epic confrontation between the eight team mambers, which results in them using their hunter skills and generally levelling the school. There is a general "whoops" moment in the aftermath, when the university is a pile of rubble.

Story ends with the teams back at Beacon, though with humorous little changes, like Jaune american football tackling Cardin when he tries to bully him. Or Blake saying "You wouldn't understand my pain." At random times.

The Headmaster from Vacuo comments idly to Ozpin that even though they messed up massively, it worked out. After seeing their cool leaders fight like that, hundreds of the students applied to become hunters.

"Even when you completely f*** up Ozpin... it seems to work out."

"That's the Beacon motto."

"No, it's not!" Glynda shouts, smashing a clipboard over the Headmaster's head.

So there we go. Pure comedy/satire - no romance, although some could be slipped in if needs be. Just a bunch of mature teenagers trying to fit in with #firstworldproblems students, and being drawn into their madness lol.

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C.F.'s Impression:

I like this. A lot. Not so much for what it is now, but what it has the foundation to become. A parody of highschool/college (they're the same thing, really) tropes? Twisting character expectations? Social cliques stereotypes? I actually started to do my own rewrite of this fill, I liked it so much. I didn't- what I wrote wasn't clear or enjoyable to read, and I threw it away- but this is one of those fills that you can just tell that, if you tried to make something of it, could evolve into something unique.

Take the core plot. Coeur walked away from the premise of going to school- the criminal recruitment of students- in favor of the ending mashup. And don't get me wrong- I like the ending mashup. But with a little planning, a lot of writing, you could have made an actual enemy to oppose. When Coeur and I talked about it, we both liked the idea of the Principal/Headmaster being the villain- corruption in the faculty, who would prey on the students in turn. That would have opened the door for each of the characters to confront the flaws of their clique- Jaune coping with the bullies, Blake with the passivities of emos who whine but do nothing- and lead them in their own ways to confronting the evil authority figure.

My suggestion? Take what I just mentioned and make it the core plot... for the first half of the story. And then let the second half of the story be the aftermath, reaction, and counter-actions that follow. My general intent was that the teams would identify the evildoer- the Principle- and the 'elite' groups would lead a coup of the faculty- Jaune's jocks (wrapped around the fingers of the beauty/cheerleader sorority) tackling teachers, Nora's politics-sorority pulling the strings to set up a new ruling order, and Weiss's LGBT alliance providing help/legal intimidation). These four- having saved the day- go about trying to reform the Academy and end up becoming the tyranical evil that the rest of RWBY/JNPR rebel and overthrow, leading to the student-on-student chaos as alliances break down and mayhem develops. You'd get the story of the obvious enemy, the moral of 'heroes becoming the villains', and the musings of how schools are a social strata constantly being overturned as students change and leave, families and friendships crossing social strata, and all the friends walking away more mature and with something from their time at school.

There were some other structural changes I'd suggest as well. Coeur mentions that the intent was that the cliques were opposites of the characters, but in a lot of respects they better as fits for the first-impression stereotypes than subversions: Jaune the wannabe becoming the jock, Blake becoming emo. Even Ren- who'd perfectly fit the stoner frat-boy model for being so chill. In that context, I'd have swapped Yang and Pyrrha- sexy-beautiful Yang would make an ideal pick for a Cheerleader (who, obviously, are the ones jocks date) while meek Pyrrha is the better study-girl sorority (because geek-girls sigh after athletes they could never have).

I'd also look into a foil-character for each of the fraternities/sororities: Blake's Demoness Cassandra, Jaune getting the fellow jock who's a lot like him, Yang getting a cheerleader mentor who's deeper beneath the fake smile, and so on. Pyrrha having a bookworm friend who was in a romantic parallel with Jaune's friend- lovestruck but impossibly out of league- was also too good to pick up, someone for Pyrrha to go 'is that what I really look like?' I'd even have romantic subplots in mind: the Jaune's friend/Pyrhha's friend being an Arkos-by-proxy, even as Pyrrha grows above her crush, and the idea of 'beauty and the geek' turning Jaune and Yang's relationship from a 'just for show' fakery into something real enough that they keep it going after the need is gone.

Oh, and there was also the idea that Weiss would have the surprise reveal of being a legendary online gamer that Ruby's geek squad treats like a mythic hero- someone single-handidly capable of countering their MMO-skills- with the joke of 'silly dweebs, everyone knows there's no girls on the internet.' Perfect tie-in to her LGBT group.

But that's all how I'd try and build off of what starts as Coeur's idea. Which, I hope is clear, I really like.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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A highschool fic... College Fool is trying to force me to write a highschool fic. You know, I thought we were friends when we started this... and then he pulls something like this?

Right... Well, for this one I decided to go with satire, and the fifteen minute time limit really did drag me back a little towards the end - leaving it not quite as rounded out as I would have liked.

Now in England we don't have fraternities or sorority groups, so all my information comes from movies. As such this is heavily satire and trope based to take advantage of that. I always say write what you know - but in this case I know nothing, so when that happens what you can do is to go for clear stereotypes, but mock them.

That way you're not being a stupid stereotypical idiot - you're being ironic! (Dons beret and shades).

Now one of the guiding principles of a satire is that everyone and everything is mocked, and that come the end of the story little has really changed. As such I couldn't actually have the two teams solve the criminal problem - as that wouldn't be satire. At least, they couldn't solve it through ingenuity or all of that good stuff - instead they level the entire school. Welp, no more training grounds for criminals - job done, right!?

I did like some of the ideas for the groups, but there was a clear lack of a middle arc for this. Some hints - with the Yang x Jaune forced romance where in public Jaune has to be dominating, yet in private Yang kicks his a**. And also plenty of shenanigan opportunities for things like Ruby's geeks getting back at the jocks by pranking them or such - basically the lead up to the big war would have been a cold war sort of setting. Where they're each doing little things to sabotage one another. Skirmishes, small fights, etc...

The end as an all-out war fits the satire setting, but I know CF said if he did this then he would go for a more traditional humour base, perhaps even a romcom - where the ending would have been more of a "all the groups band together against the administration" sort of thing. That would work too, but by this point I was firmly out of time.

The goal was to mock the groups, but also mock the characters - by forcing them to in many cases be polar opposites of themselves. Ren the party animal, Yang the studious nerd and Jaune the jock. I did also laugh a little at the torture I would have put Blake through, including embarrassing initiation events - such as Blake being made to ritually sacrifice a cute-looking teddy bear. And after she has literally 0 problems killing what is a stupid plushie, the goths are so impressed by her black heart that she is considered one of the elite - and made to wear a spiked collar around campus. Which REALLY ticks her off because of what a collar might mean for a faunus xD

Obviously I was never in a million years going to write a preppy high-school romance fic between Weiss and Ruby - just "not happening".

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Special Author Commentary: Romances!

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Coeur's Note: Someone asked about favourite pairings so I thought I might answer - perhaps CF will as well. I actually don't have a favourite pairing, and genuinely feel that's the best way to look at fanfiction. I have been contacted by a few people who have expressed that they will "never" read my work as it isn't White Rose or Arkos, or Victory Rose - or whatever... and all I could say back to them was "Okay, your loss I guess - there's a lot of good fics out there not that pairing."

I can't imagine turning away from potentially good fics just based on pairing, it baffles me.

But I do hate a few hated pairings. Which i will still read, but they have to be better than just good for me to stick with them.

Pyrrha x Jaune - I think people know my reasoning. Pyrrha's attraction to Jaune feels too desperate and quickly developed, I mean she literally chooses him after a single conversation - and then denying him the chance to choose his own partner - pins him to a tree. It feels very unrealistic because of that. And the way she later acts around Jaune I don't like either, mainly trying to solve all his problems and prevent his natural growth as a character.

Similarly it just seems odd that a famous figure, who would be used to public speaking and events, suddenly becomes a tongue-tied shy girl around the guy. I know plenty about feeling silly around the person you love, but in the show it just feels too forced - and too fast/

Sun x Blake - A similar issue in that it feels like their romance was shoe-horned together just based on the fact that they are both faunus. For shame Rooster Teeth - for a show that seems to want to promote equality, dumping Blake with the first male faunus to come along feels trite indeed. They have literally nothing in common other than heritage (which seems to be enough for Miles Luna) and in the show Blake expresses nothing but disdain for him at every opportunity.

Weiss x Ruby - Literally no romantic interest in the show shown by either of them, which wouldn't be a problem for me since few other characters have either - but 99% of fanfiction just slaps them together with no preparation or build-up. People ignore the "chase" and the "development of love" almost entirely. This is one of those pairings which I hate literally BECAUSE of badly written fanfiction.

Yang x Blake - Same reason as above, it again feels like 50% people going "ooh lesbians, must pair" and 50% "they're partners which MUST mean life partners too." I dislike that attitude in general since it suggests that relationships should be predetermined rather than allowed to grow. A shame that RT seems happy to go with the partner pairing loadout as well. Since they put Pyrrha and Jaune, and Ren and Nora together. I generally dislike fics that do the whole PyrxJaune, Noren, YangBla, Weiss Ruby set-up.

And finally:

Too many pairings in one fic - I don't know why people do this, perhaps the idea of anyone being alone pains them - but people try to fit four to eight relationships in a single story. Some people don't date you know, or at least people don't do it all at the same time. And even when they do - not all teenage dates = marriage!

Too many eggs spoil the broth, and you can't write a meaningful and well-written romance when you're trying to do six at the same time. Step back, take a deep breath - and focus on one, or two at most.

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College Fool's Notes:

Like Coeur, I don't have a One True Pairing that I put above all else. I do have a favorite character- Jaune- but one of the themes I like about him is the role of the maleable, still developing person and personality- something that, with the medium of fanfiction, encourages different character developments which would allow different pairings to work. Unlike some of the characters, who are relatively static, Jaune's more flexible in that regard- which helps with any shipping. That said, there are a few pairings I do dislike I dislike- generally similar reasons as Coeur. I'll hit on the principles of what I dislike, more than the pairings themselves, because any pairing can be written well.

First one- over-eager shipping gogles that turn 'hey' into 'I love you.' My personal thought on RWBY as a series is that it does a much better job putting up friendship dynamics than it does romantic relationships- but that, like a lot of bad fanfiction, it conflates the two. Part of it is the medium- can't expect much as is- but even so, people take perfectly good friendship dynamics and then blaze past them to 'must be love.'

To me, that undersells the characters involved. Take Blake and Yang- a great deal of the shipping inevitably follows that (a) Yang is naturally playful and flirty, and (b) expresses concern over Blake's obsession. Romantic interest is totally unnecessary, but it becomes seen as 'proof.' But the nature of seeing this as 'proof' is to reject the other possibilities- that's this is the sort of friendly concern that a good friend would offer. Yang expressing concern for a friend demonstrates a broader sort of empathy she would express to others in similar circumstances: Yang expressing this concern only because she's lusting for Blake undersells her as a person, because it implies she wouldn't do the same for others. I dislike shipping of this sort- where expressing concern is tantamount to romantic love. People who love express concern- but not all people who express concern are in love.

Another dynamic is the 'intimacy of first/only resort'- when characters are paired simply because they're practically the only ones who interact with each other (Nora-Ren), or because they're the closest one's available. This is the dynamic that typically gets used in White Rose shipping. Without the shipping goggles, Ruby and Weiss are two girls, both lonely and isolated, who make make their first close friends in each other, which helps them grow as people. Great stuff. But in a lot of White Rose shipping, that's all the basis is- that they're isolated from others, so might as well hook up because why bother with that growing up and out? It's settling- not building- the characters. It'd be like- if they weren't related- shipping Ruby and Yang on the basis of how Ruby doesn't want any other friends than Yang at Beacon.

A third dynamic I dislike (or at least see as a flaw) is emotional dependence of one on the other. I don't like that- I like to see that challenged and refuted- which is why I actually like how Yang ditches Ruby and tries to make her make friends. And this is where I most dislike Arkos shipping. Pyrrha's character dynamic isn't bad- isolation through fame- but it is a bad basis for a healthy romance. Pyrrha needs a friend, not a lover- and the immediate, unconditional, single-minded focus on Jaune just screams of dependency to me, even though there's no real sign that any other characters treat Pyrrha differently because of her background. If I were to write on it, I'd call that out as a weakness, not a virtue- even give Pyrrha a character arc in which she tries to solve Jaune's problems for him, and ends up denying him growth. That's not good for her, or him, and a good arc would be making her realize she's contributing to the problem. Truth be told, I find Pyrrha's interest in Jaune more disturbing than Jaune's fixation on Weiss, which at least had the advantage of being annoying immaturity for no good reason rather than interest for a bad reason.


	14. Tough Love

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Cardin had always struggled to show his affection properly. Call it the results of a messed-up childhood, or just too much pressure... but sometimes you do silly things to get the attention of the people you like. Bullying Jaune Arc was just the only way he could think of, to grab the knight's attention.

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(C.F. Note: There were two different fills here. The first was what 'actually' came from the game: and it stinks. The other came from the idea at the 15th minute, and with several hours of massaging.)

College Fool's Fill -Fill One: Differences

A series of divergent point (DP)/AU shorts on how things could have gone on different paths at differing points of the story.

Vomit Boy  
DP: After Jaune vomits in the trash can to the disgust of Yang and Ruby, and laughter of others, Cardin gives Jaune a hit on the back when Jaune jokes on bile. Cardin makes a joke about how the girls perfume made him want to puke too- a mean but well-placed joke that breaks the tension between them. When Ruby explodes, Jaune starts to go towards her- but Cardin's reminder that she's one of the girls that grossed out on him stays gives him pause. Jaune turns his back on Ruby.  
Consequence: Flash forward. Teams RWBY and CRJL are mostly antagonistic- with Yang being Jaune's teasing/mocking harasser due to their bad start and Ruby's bad memory of visibly being abandoned by Jaune in the courtyard. Yang vows to beat up Jaune and Cardin as part of a 2-on-1... but Jaune gets the best of her by cutting her hair, though they knows it will mean hospital.

Fan of the Family  
DP: In the ball room for Ozpin's speach. Cardin strikes up a conversation with Jaune after hearing his name is Arc. Cardin claims their grandfathers served in the war, when Arc saved Cardin's grandfather- and they start bonding over a common family history of heroism. When Jaune changes for the night into bunny PJs, Cardin drags him back for his own reputation and vows to not let the life debt go unfulfilled. When he asks if there's anything else he needs to save Jaune from, Jaune gets nervous and goes, well... to which Cardin sighs, and vows that Jaune's going to make it up to him for this.  
Consequences: When Cardin gets on his bully streak with Velvet, Jaune (his team mate) stops it early on- appealing to that family pride and what not. Though Cardin's the dominant partner with a reputation for pushing Jaune to do his homework, Jaune is the conscience/brains of Team CRDJ.

Finders Keepers  
DP: Cardin comes across Jaune stuck in the tree before Pyrrha arrives. He's not happy about a sissy partner- but when Pyrrha arrives, and Pyrrha's not interested in being his partner instead (because she has her eyes on Jaune), Cardin spites her by taking Jaune as his partner. Jaune and Cardin banter a bit, in which Jaune isn't terribly broken up about it because he admits he's not into red heads. Cardin finds commonality in it going, hey, he's into blondes.

Consequence: Waaaaay later (and probably should be separate AU prompt): Jaune wears the dress to the Ball... because Cardin didn't get a date. Ho yay undertones ensue.

Tough Love- the idea I wish I had 15 mins ago

DP: Cardin's blackmail streak with Jaune has a bit more reasoning behind it. Cardin's trying to push Jaune in a way that his team and friends aren't: the no-holding-back battles are actually pushing Jaune past his limits, while the essays and extra homework are actually a cram course to make up for Jaune's education. Pyrrha's intervention/attempt at intimidation runs aground when she realizes that Cardin's been doing his own work on the side as well- and covering up some of Jaune's failings.  
Consequence: Pyrrha-Cardin-Jaune love triangle, with Jaune ignorant of both of them?

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And now for the good one-

College Fool's Fill: Tough Love

Beat 1 – The Hook – Why the protagonist needs/wants romance.

Cardin has a tough childhood. His father is a racist, but more than that is a strict instructor and gives a theory of how because Cardin is weak (possibly because he was sympathetic to faunus rabble), he (father) will make something stronger and better out of him. Cardin doesn't like it, doesn't like what Father's doing- but Father doesn't care, saying it's for his own good, and he'll appreciate it some day. Father tells Cardin that if he wants someone to like him, he'll have to make them strong in order to understand.

Beat 2 – The Meeting – The two characters meet and an attraction, or reason for one, is established.

Jaune and Cardin meet in the ball room the first night of Beacon. Noting the armor and sword, Cardin guesses Jaune is part of a warrior family. They talk, and though there's an initial connection over both their grandparents in the war, Jaune admits to feeling he could never live up or meet his father's expectations. Cardin empathizes, though he can't get that across- instead talking about how he earned his father's pride by becoming stronger. It's meant to inspire Jaune, but it repels him, and Jaune leaves dispirited.

Cardin bites his tongue, annoyed at how he stumbled it, and pushes around his future teammates a little. Cardin, thinking about his own father, vows to make Jaune strong, so that then they could be friends.

Beat 3 – Conflict Point 1 – Wherein the protagonist realises they should not be together, as it conflicts with their goal/dream/beliefs.

Cardin tries over the next few days/weeks to reconnect with Jaune, but fails because of the interference of JNPR/RWBY and co and his own social awkwardness. He moved Jaune's locker near his own so that they could 'coincidentally' meet in the morning- but Weiss and Pyrrha talk outside it, and then Jaune leaves with Ruby and Yang. At the Landing Strategy, Cardin's mass and armor send him far away, and by the time he gets to where Jaune is, he sees Pyrrha leading him away. On the first day of class he tries to save a spot for Jaune's team- but JNPR and RWBY are both late. etc. When Cardin plays the Team Leader card, Ruby gets involved and in the way.

The more Cardin fails to get Jaune's attention, the more frustrated he becomes. The more frustrated he becomes, the more he takes it out on others. The more he takes it out on others, the less attention Jaune wants to give to him.

Beat 4 – Raising the stakes – Wherein the two characters are bound together, despite the conflict. They accept their love/relationship/attraction.

After restraining his temper against Jaune till now, Cardin starts to bully Jaune directly to get some sort of notice. Thus begins Cardin's bullying streak.

Things that could be hyper-macho abrasive teasing end up coming off as basic bullying. But at the same time, it's never anything serious, and Cardin makes clear to his team that Jaune is off limits, that he's 'his.' Cardin's taunts and attacks are framed in terms of challenges- egging Jaune on to match him, or to counter him. Moreover, Cardin makes a successful argument to Glenda about why he should be Jaune's partner in the sparring matches: Cardin's ruthless, but he actually pushes Jaune to and past his limits, unlike the hyper-competent JNPR and RWBY who either demolish Jaune immediately, or go so easy on him that he gets nothing out of it.

Jaune starts to resent Cardin- but Cardin's thick skin means he doesn't mind, because he's finally got Jaune's attention when he enters the room. What's better, or worse, is that Cardin's bullying is... pretty much unopposed by RWBY and JNPR. Cardin consels himself that it must not be that bad, because if it was then Jaune's friends would stop him. Though he doesn't like it that the rest of his team thinks it's open season on Jaune, he's actually pleased when a stressed and fed-up Jaune punches back at Lark. Cardin 'rewards' Jaune by standing up for him infront of Glenda, keeping Jaune from getting in trouble.

Cardin thinks things are looking up- Jaune's slowly improving, and toughening up, which means that eventually- and then a good day gets even better when he hears Jaune and Pyrrha's conversation, and Jaune's confession.

Beat 5 – Conflict Point 2 – The relationship looks good, all is working, but there is niggling doubt. The conflict continues to gnaw away at them, it's a false happiness.

The blackmail arc.

Cardin having blackmail over Jaune is a breakthrough- whereas before Cardin had to compete with Teams RWBY and JNPR for Jaune's time, Jaune is now forced to spend more time with CRDL, which gives Cardin a much freer hand to mold Jaune into a 'strong' man, while also getting to claim Jaune as a friend. Because, through blackmail, Jaune is claiming vice-versa... and Cardin really thinks they're becoming that.

As their 'training' intensifies, Jaune really starts to rise- and even Jaune's concerned friends have to concede that he's doing better. Jaune's physical stats are greatly improved. His grades are rising as he applies himself doing all of Cardin's assignments- which, coincidentally, always seem to be Jaune's worst subjects, and often before tests. And he's even getting to the point of providing an actual challenge to Cardin in a match... which surprises and worries RWBY and JNPR even more, because even though Jaune beats Cardin in a match, a point which 'should' end the bullying if it was just a matter of strength, Jaune still puts up with Cardin... and still won't talk to them. Ruby has a clue, but when she privately tries to approach Cardin about Jaune, Cardin blows her off because his methods are working.

Jaune's relationships with JNPR and RWBY become ever more strained, mutually now, as Jaune's real improvements are only recognized by Cardin and CRDL. To Jaune's frustration, JNPR and RWBY are too concerned to celebrate his growth from bottom of the class- and in a moment of what's supposed to be a friendship intervention in which they intervene in a CRDL-J training session to take Jaune away, it snaps. In stumbling through their justification- a concerned Pyrrha patronizes him about how he didn't need to work so hard for them, while most of Team RWBY disclaim (lie) that they're concerned for him and talk about how his association with Cardin's racism makes them look back- to the point that a stressed and strung out Jaune snaps. Reflecting Cardin's words from earlier, Jaune says they should settle this fight over him by strength, a team battle.

Ruby eagerly volunteers Team RWBY vs Team CRDL... but Jaune clarifies since he's involved, he'll have a say in his own fate, it will be 5 on 5. The friends wonder who they can send to sham for Team CRDL... except Jaune takes that spot, since clearly RWBY and JNPR think he's the weakest, prompting alarm and Pyrrha to take the fifth spot with RWBY.

The match is even- much to the surprise of Team RWBY, who expected CRDL to be pushovers. Instead, they form a solid core and teamwork, while Jaune spars with Pyrrha, who holds back. What breaks the deadlock is Jaune's strategic mind and positioning- predicing the lanes that Ruby could use her semblance in, and ambushing her with a shield to the face when she was setting up a maneuver. With Ruby down in a sucker strike, RWBY tumbles- sneak-assassin Thrush is able to 'assasinate' Weiss, removing support. Big Bruiser Cardin keeps Yang occupied, without triggering her semblance, while RDL tripple-team Blake and overcome her clones. Three on one vs. Blake becomes 4v1 on Yang, and then 5v1 on Pyrrha... who ultimately does stop holding back, but who can't make up for the Jaune factor, or CRDL's better teamwork.

CRDL wins- because of Jaune- and Ren and Nora help RWBY limp away to the infirmary, carrying the unconscious Ruby. Cardin is elated and suggests they all go out for food to celebrate, his treat. Jaune refuses, saying he needs some training drone time, and Cardin lets him go- but not before offering Jaune a room key to the CRDL dorm.

Jaune holds it next to his own, and considers throwing it away- but remembering the looks of his Teammates when they left, he feels 'his' friends are no longer his. Frustrated and angry at everyone- at Cardin for causing this, at RWBY for losing, at himself for going along with it and snapping at them and only having himself to blame for RWBY losing- Jaune throws away the JNPR key and throws himself into training with drones till he drops.

Beat 6 – The Black Moment – It all goes wrong, all hope is lost. The relationship seems doomed.

When Jaune wakes up, it's in CRDL's room. Cardin found him when they got back from dinner, and they took him back to CRDL's room. Cardin gave up his own bed- sleeping on the floor- and when CRDL wakes up they're all cheers for Jaune. The battle before was a bonding experience, and all the mocking and bullying of before has passed: Jaune is one of them, accepted and respected, and the teasing and mockery is now evenly spread as the boys of RDL tear into eachother without malice. Cardin just watches from the side, a proud smile on his face, as Jaune is in a stupor.

When they go to the cafeteria, there's an instant and venomous animosity from Jaune's friends. RWBY, sans Ruby, is all glares, and there's whispers about how someone (Ruby) was in the Beacon infirmery for a serious concussion. NPR is less openly hostile- but Ren is impassive to the extreme, Nora deliberately ignores Jaune, and and Pyrrha has an expression of hurt and confusion.

CRDL, tough skins all, pays it little mind except to boast how successful they were and that it's just sour grapes. After a dismal, forced team exercise during class in which JNPR's teamwork and communication was non-existent. The team is chided by the professor running it- which sparks snide comments from WBY against Jaune, which sparks CRDL to come to his defense. The fight climaxes with BWY and CRDL almost at blows before the professor intervenes... and points out that Jaune has disappeared.

Jaune has slipped away to visit Ruby, still in the infirmary. Though the nurses forbid visitors, Jaune sneaks in anyway, finding Ruby conscience but quiet. After awkward small talk and stumbling, the two apologize simultaneously- Jaune for hurting Ruby, and Ruby for not being good enough to beat CRDL. They both revisit the hallway conversation of canon- in which Ruby pushed Jaune to not give up. Jaune thinks he's even more of a failure now because he's lost his team and his friends, and he still hasn't escaped Cardin's leash. Ruby disagrees- she says Jaune has grown strong, but that she's the one whose failed- failed to lead the friends to free him of his burdens, but also failed to recognize how he's grown taller and stronger by bearing it. Though they've both failed as leaders and friends, they both forgive eachother and re-affirm their friendship. While Jaune can't understand why Cardin has done all this, Ruby is tight-lipped about it- only asking that Jaune do what's right for him.

Jaune returns to the class, admitting he went to the infirmary. Despite CRDL's concern, and WBY's suspicion, he asks if JNPR can try the team event again. They pass- marginally- but their performance is so abysmal that Professor Ozpin asks if Jaune has anything to say for himself.

Jaune does: Jaune asks that he be removed from Team JNPR, because he doesn't belong there. Cardin steps forward, offering to take Jaune in as a fifth member- but Jaune refuses, clarifying that he's not looking for another team.

Jaune confesses that he lied his way into Beacon.

Beat 7 – Resolution – Obstacles overcome, romance achieved, or tragic ending.

It's an uproar, except for Ozpin who watches the reactions.

Everyone who didn't know is surprised- but Pyrrha and Cardin are both horrified, and Cardin shouts at Jaune, demanding why he'd admit it. Cardin's shout makes Pyrrha realize that Cardin knew- and in a flash, Ren's gun-knives come out and Nora's in knee-breaking mode as JNPR realizes why Jaune was so tight and strung-out- he was under Cardin's thumb. Realizing that Jaune was blackmailed the whole time pisses off WBY- who, transitioning to the obvious enemy, blame Ruby's hospital visit on CRDL for blackmailing Jaune into fighting them. It's almost a fight again, Professors or no.

Jaune's command voice is strong enough to cut through. He's putting this out so that Cardin no longer has any power over him any longer. He'd rather lose his team and be free than lose his friends and be under Cardin's thumb.

Cardin doesn't deny the charge of blackmail- but he doesn't care about the blame for him, but for the consequences if Jaune is thrown out. Cardin is off-balance and afraid, and when Pyrrha/WBY asks why he'd care if he were blackmailing Jaune in the first place, Cardin tells his viewpoint: that the blackmail was the threat to push Jaune harder than any of the friends were- it was Cardin who pushed him to study by making him do all the classwork and extra credit. The others thinks he's lying, but Glenda reveals that Cardin never took credit for Jaune's work, but put Jaune's name on the papers before turning them in. Cardin did his own homework on his own.

Cardin's mentorship program is a shocker. When pressed why, Cardin explains his distorted understanding of friendship that he learned from his father. That the way to have strong friends is to make them strong- and if they're weak, you have to build them up by pushing them outside their comfort zone, even if they don't like it. History vindicates the strong, the ends justify the means. And Cardin points out that, hey, Jaune is strong now! He's better than some of their peers- so there's no reason for Jaune to be kicked out.

Team CRDL echoes him- even though they tormented him the most, they support Jaune staying. Kick out someone else, if anyone's going to get kicked out. Maybe someone weaker, like Team RWBY? That, too, sparks a fight again- with WBY bristling at how CRDL acts like Jaune's friends now- but they're cut off by Ruby's admonishment that they are Jaune's friends now.

Ruby, having snuck out of the infirmary, gives a gentle chiding to her team- and the rest of Team JNPR as well. They didn't exactly help Jaune when Jaune needed it earlier- they didn't interfere until well after the fact, and they didn't try to help Jaune becoming stronger either. Pyrrha protests that she tried- but Ruby chides her on keeping Jaune's secret from the rest of them, even when she helped organize the two teams effort to free Jaune. If Pyrrha had shared that, not only might the match have gone differently- but Ruby would have known why Jaune was under leash and been able to resolve this from the start.

Because there really is no kick-out clause for cheating your way into Beacon, is there? she asks, looking at Ozpin.

Ozpin smiles. No Miss Rose... no there is not.

Ozpin lays out the simple, brutal, honest truth of admission standards to Beacon: Beacon doesn't select the best of the best because it's elitist, but because only the best are likely to survive. Sure, Beacon will only select the best transcripts... but the point of admission standards is to protect the applicants. Beacon, despite it's reputation for producing heroes, is not in the business of ethical purity- or else it wouldn't admit and allow cheaters, racists, elitists, and the occasional reformed criminal.

It's as Mr. Winchester says: history vindicates the strong. If Mr. Arc is strong enough to survive Beacon, he earns his place as long as he's alive... and if he dies, then clearly he wasn't cut out for it in the first place. Ozpin either gets an ambitious and daring Hunter who grades alone wouldn't have found, or he gets a useful lesson. And even if Jaune didn't die, it seems he'll serve the later.

Glenda, with a dismissive remark towards teenagers acting too much like children, chides them all from the instructor perspective. Surprise surprise, they know pretty much everything.

Team Cardinal has strength, but serious ethical issues. Even if Beacon won't interfere with childish bullying, Cardin's racism is going to lose support and and earn loathing- and considering Cardin's fear at Jaune's admission, CRDL isn't as unaffected as they'd like to pretend. If Cardin wants allies, he'll have to learn to step away from coercion lest he make enemies instead.

Before RWBY can get too smug, though, Glenda has a blistering comment for them: if they wanted to improve the situation, they should have acted themselves. Instead of sitting by and condemning CRDL's bullying and otherwise, expecting someone else to act, they should have acted themselves. Instead, they left a nominal friend to be bullied, and then turned on him as he began to buckle under the strain. They were complacent- and lax on their training to boot, or else they could easily have won the battle.

And JNPR... Glenda doesn't mince words. JNPR fell apart as a team. Jaune let himself be blackmailed rather than bring it to the attention of others, even authorities, who could have helped, and didn't look to his team for support- even as he abandoned them as a leader. But the team itself didn't provide the support it needed to its leader. Glenda points out that Pyrrha's attempt at support didn't actually help Jaune: in trying to defer to what he wanted, Pyrrha didn't give him the push he needed as a partner- and then kept critical information that could have helped her friends address the situation. And Pyrrha and Ren... the fact that they were so uninvolved, that they just remained their own childhood twosome, is a mark of how divided their team is. Teams are partners of partners, not two people on their own, and NR's self-contained bubble meant they didn't even fight for their own team leader, when their coordination could have tilted the battle in Pyrrha's favor.

From the instructor perspective, all the students failed... but that's why they're here. To learn. The professors administer some trivial punishments on the Team Leaders- Jaune for lying, Cardin for blackmailing, and Ruby for sneaking out of the infirmary- and tell the teams to return to their dorms to reflect on what they've done.

The teams separate to their dorms- RWBY and JNPR to one way, CRDL to another. Cardin tries to reach out to Jaune- but Jaune, though pausing, turns his back and goes with his own team without looking back. Cardin shuts down, claims nothing is wrong. No one calls him out for lying.

The next time Cardin and Jaune meet, it's at the Team Leader detention with Ruby. Cardin and Jaune aren't talking- Cardin can't engage without bullying or blackmail, and Jaune doesn't want to talk. It's actually Ruby who presses them to clear the air- because she knows that even if Jaune hated the situation, Cardin was trying for something better, and that Jaune knows it as well.

Jaune finally speaks, and admits that he hated Cardin. Maybe still does. But as much as he hates it, he's stronger now- and that's thanks to Cardin- and that there were moments he forgot he was being blackmailed and actually enjoyed CRDL. The battle where they beat RWBY and Pyrrha- what a rush! And the comraderies afterwards.

Cardin, though he can't say 'I wanted to be friends,' comes as close as he is able. He mentions his father and upbringing. He says he was trying to do the same for Jaune. And Jaune, recalling the start, remembers that Cardin and his father ended up getting along.

Jaune doesn't think that will happen- at least not any time soon- and leaves with a threat that if Cardin ever does anything like that towards his friends, Jaune won't forgive him next time.

Cardin takes that as Jaune not reciprocating his intent- but Ruby helpfully points out that if Jaune won't forgive Cardin next time, doesn't that imply Jaune may have forgiven Cardin somewhat this time?

It's a repeat of much earlier in the story, when Ruby tried to approach Cardin about Jaune... but this time, Cardin asks Ruby what she thinks he should do. Ruby pulls out a list- 'training' for Cardin- and asks how hard he's willing to work to improve himself?

When Jaune goes to the cafeteria to eat with his friends, he's find to find that Team RWBY and JNPR have company- Team CRDL. Ruby invited CRDL to eat with them- in exchange for CRDL laying off the racism and bullying- and the teams are in a tense balance. JNPR on one side, RWBY across from them, and CRDL at the end. Ruby is sitting between RWBY and CRDL... and there's an empty seat right across from her, between Pyrrha and Cardin.

After a pause, Jaune takes the seat, and breaks the awkward pause by stealing a nugget off of Cardin's plate and starting to talk about training plans... for all three teams.

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Coeur's Impression:

Normally I give out Jaune-centric prompts and while this one still focuses on jaune, I wanted to splice the action out in another direction, onto someone a little less represented. Cardin. Now Normally the Cardinator is paired with Velvet - a forbidden love/redemption angle that i honestly at least prefer more than the baseless shipping of other characters. It shows them both growing and changing the way they think.

But this is different. Bullying as a method of gaining attention, it's common with young teens - and also socially maladjusted older teens. So here we go!

There's two fics here, in a sense. The first one had more the angle of a comedy one - and it works too, it's a good start but unfinished. Because the second is more developed I'll comment on that one.

I like that CF took this on a more serious route. When I gave the prompt there was obvious potential for it to be a comedy one, but yaoi lulz aside this is a serious issue for Cardin, and it's given that respect.

CF went for the 7 beat romance structure here, which by this point we really ought to explain for people. It's just for romance stories, and I suppose I can see about adding a resource at the bottom for examples.

I particularly liked that is was used for friendship more than romance in this case - and more than that, Cardin is wrong in this (in a sense), his view is too strict and regimental thanks to his father's teachings - but unlike other fics, CF doesn't have someone just point that out and Cardin goes "Oops, yeah you're right - guess I'll change my ways now!"

Cardin believes it, and implements it - and it works. Because honestly sometimes even the wrong direction can still produce results. In this fic everyone is wrong - even Jaune, who just festered and confusedly threw his anger around rather than stand up for himself. Everyone is wrong, and Glynda points that out to each of them.

The ending promise of some reconciliation between Cardin and Jaune was nice - but considering Cardin was no less (or more) at fault than the others, I'd have liked to see Jaune be a little less... critical.

In the end though I liked it, and the 7-Beat works well enough here. There are some balance issues, in that beats 6&7 go on for a long time, whereas a black moment should actually be short and explosive, like a stab to the gut.

But we forgive it because it's not a true romance - so doesn't need to follow it quite so rigidly.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Let's talk about the interesting one, and not the utter fail of the game that I'm too honest to hide.

So. Cardin. And the 8 Beat Romance structure for a twisted sort of bromance. I used the structure because it's a good one for drama- even if romance isn't actually involved- but also because Coeur was angling for that sort of line. If this were 'canon,' I've no doubt shippers would sail.

Cardin's an ass here- no question- but something I wanted to aim for was how even jerks can have feelings, and how people with different sense of compassion can justify different things. Because make no mistake, Cardin is expressing a positive sort of interest in Jaune- he wants a friend- but Cardin's world-view is one where 'strength' is the virtue that matters. The best thing Cardin can do- to help Jaune, to relate with Jaune, to become friends with Jaune- is to make Jaune strong. It's a sort of 'the ends justify the means' upbringing in practice- Cardin could connect with his father, despite the discomfort at first, and believes he and Jaune will have something similar. It's neither insincere or illogical- there's actually some good research out there about how experience of abuse and stress- think 'hazing rituals' or boot camp- can bring about strong bonds of acceptance. No one likes being hazed- but no one quite fits into a group afterwards if they haven't been.

Meanwhile, Jaune's team and friends are compassionate in the 'good' way, and do nothing to stress Jaune out- but I wanted to hit on how 'nice' wasn't necessarily 'better.' Yeah, they don't push Jaune around... but they don't push Jaune when he needs to be pushed either. They don't push about bullying when he's suffering, which does nothing to help the bullying. And they don't push him in training to be strong- and as a would-be hunter he needs to be strong. The only thing they were helping Jaune towards by doing nothing was getting killed in the future. In contrast to that, Cardin can seem the good guy: he's doing what Jaune needs to survive, not making Jaune happy till he dies.

So this was a story with a theme of 'everyone's in the wrong, for right reasons.' I wasn't going for equivalence- Cardin's clearly the primary instigator- but Glenda's call-out towards the end was the chance to show everyone's failings in the situation. And it's thanks to that- thanks to recognizing even his own flaws- that Jaune is able to tentatively forgive Cardin, who's not the sole villain.


	15. Unscarred

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – His friends had trained their entire lives to get where they were- and as flawless as their faces might seem, they all had the scars hidden somewhere to prove it. He didn't. But as much as that had filled him with guilt... he never thought it might interest them in return.

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Couer's Fill: Unscarred

Initial Thoughts - God this is a hard one, it would be so easy to just write an emotionally scarred Jaune - flip it and invert it a little, and have him be healed by love... but that is pretty damn cliche by now. So let's not. Instead I'll go this way. Timer starts now, fifteen minutes tick.

Structure - Hero's Journey (kinda)

Ordinary World: Jaune is frustrated at Beacon due to a lack of growth in combat. He is now able to defeat Cardin, but can't hold a candle to his teammates. He wants to become stronger but can never seem to catch up with them.

Call to Adventure: After watching Ruby spar with Weiss he realises that one of the reasons for this is that they use/rely on their semblances, and that he still doesn't have one. He decides to do what he can to unlock it, asking Pyrrha who admits she does not know, but that many people gain one in time.

Meeting the Mentor: Jaune goes to visit Glynda for advice, who praises his thinking but says there is no way to force a semblance to unlock, she advises that oobleck would be the best bet due to his research into the matter. Oobleck welcomes Jaune and says he too wants to know the answer, and invites Jaune to help him with research - saying not only might Jaune find the answer, but Oobleck will also pay him for the help.

Crossing the Threshold: Initial study and reading into semblances seems to suggest that they often reflect and shore up key weaknesses in people. And are almost universally useful in some way. there is even a suggestion that semblances are activated in high stress situations where the resulting semblance is the only reason people get out alive. Oobleck hypothesizes that semblances actually come about as a result of nearly dying.

The first test: Jaune is worried about this and goes to spend time with his team. While there he chats with Pyrrha about his studies, and asks her how she got her semblance. Pyrrha is nervous and doesn't want to tell him, which makes him worry. Instead he goes and talks to Ruby. Ruby, much more open, explains that she gained hers when she was visiting her mother's grave and was attacked by Beowolves - she would have died and just wanted to run away, and before she knew it, she was running really fast. She also admits that it used to be a way to forget things. When the wind was whistling she could just pretend the world was a better place. Jaune thanks her but is troubled, he reports his findings to oobleck, but leaves out Ruby's name.

The Second test: Jaune decides this time to talk with Blake, and after some subtle questions which fail, he tells her what he is doing. Blake sighs but is willing to help his research, saying he should have just mentioned that at first. She explains her semblance and how it reflects her always running away. Jaune counters the argument, saying it doesn't need to be seen so negatively, because sometimes we retreat so we can regather ourselves, before going back in stronger. He quotes something from Nicholas Arc about the foolishness of dying for no other reason than pride. Blake is thoughtful but comments that perhaps what he says is true.

This continues for other characters with semblance reveals, with Jaune slowly becoming more intent on helping his friends, and offering wisdom that makes them feel less sad at their semblances.

Weiss: Her glyphs come about as a desperate desire for control. She uses them to control and change things, something she never had in her childhood to the strict regiment and high-society training her father imposed on her. Jaune helps her bu suggesting that now she does have control, and beyond that, so much more. A team, friends, etc...

Yang: Yang's semblance is a reference to her always trying to take the danger and pain for others, first protecting her father, then Ruby, and now her team. It's self-harming and painful, as it always hurts to take damage.

Ren's - Don't know what it is, I'd make something up.

Nora - The same

Come back to Pyrrha's last - her magnetism is a reflection of her loneliness and social isolation. She can attract metal, cold unfeeling metal, but no friends. Jaune feels how miserable she feels and hugs her, saying that's not true. Not anymore, with their team.

Rebirth: Jaune goes back to Oobleck, and gives his theory. Aura is the soul, and although it repairs wounds of the body it cannot fix the scars we receive to our spirit. It can only try to help you cope, and a semblance is a body's desperate attempt to do that. Hunters receive semblances when they become scarred, broken and traumatized.

Oobleck asks Jaune if he still wants to try and unlock his own, but Jaune refuses. Saying he's the only one of this team who isn't scarred, and he won't belittle what they went through by trying to simulate it. Instead he says he is going to look after his team as a leader should.

The Return ro Ordinary: We have come full circle and are back at the start, except that Jaune is now content with his lack of semblance, and happier with himself. He also feels closer to each of his teammates.

End.

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C.F.'s Impression:

This is one of those cases where intent was wonderfully subverted. I had actually intended it as a prompt to focus on physical scars and the difference between Jaune and his friends. Either the friends had physical scars from their training, which Jaune didn't- or they had no scars at all, thanks to aura healing, while Jaune did. Either would have given fodder, and I was hoping for reflection/interest by the friends towards Jaune's uniqueness.

What emerged is a rare sort of story for Coeur- without any romance!- but I enjoyed the premise. Jaune strives for self-improvement- good. Jaune gets closer to all of his friends by expressing interest in them. Good. And Beacon faculty- widely underused as characters- play a significant role. Excellent.

There isn't much about what we see that I don't like. The idea of semblances being emotional scar tissue is good world building- and Jaune serving as a counter-perspective, helping his friends see them not as usefull personal failings but something to be proud of- is a good development angle for them. That's about the only thing I feel should be embellished a bit more- say a first round where Jaune learns their secrets and glimpses unhappiness, and then a second round where he intends to cheer them up.

But I especially like the ending- that Jaune decides not to try to force open a semblance of his own. That was an excellent character moment- a demonstration of the maturity he's grown- and demonstrates a strength even if it can't be weaponized.

Great development fic all around.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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What a strange prompt - it threw me for a good ninety seconds, which in this sort of game is devastating. My first thoughts were ye olde typical dark past Jaune - but that's just so damned cliche that I couldn't bring myself to do it...

I also wanted to show CF at the time a different structure layout called "The Hero's Journey" - I'm not a major fan of it myself, as it tends to only really fit cyclical stories, i.e. stories that end back at the beginning. Imagine Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, etc... where you start in real world, then end in real world - but with a different mindset. (Peter Pan, any travel to a new world then return novels. Amber Spyglass, Northern Lights, etc...)

It fits here anyway.

All stories are about growth in a sense, and should end with the protagonist markably different to how they were when they started. Either in strength - Sam/Merry as jokers at start of LOTR - as Heroes who overthrow Sharkey at the end. Or in terms of mentality - Alice as a girl with no self-esteem in AiW - ends with her feeling inspired and taking over her father's company.

This is the same. Jaune starts out depressed and envious, and comes out of his journey enlightened, a little burdened - but also with not only great respect for his friends, but a desire to help them. He also comes to terms with his own lack of a semblance, and realises that isn't a weakness - as he can be the emotional rock for his friends.

You can see my time running out with Ren and Nora rofl, yeah I'll just give them something. Ren's could perhaps be control of aura outside his body - reflecting the fact that Ren is not very sociable. He feels that he cannot connect with people, and his aura reflects that - his very soul is lonely and tries to reach outside the confines of its body. Solved by Jaune and Ren having a heart to heart, and Jaune saying that he is Jaune's best male friend, and closest confidante.

Nora's... ugh, she's shown nothing. I suppose we could assume her mentality is maybe her semblance? How about it's a motivational semblance that inspires people - and came about as a result of her being in a bad situation and giving up. And that in truth she isn't as happy as she always seems, it's just her semblance changing how she really feels. That sounds too lame for her, but it's an option... maybe I'd think of a better one.

The whole point of the story is Jaune learning what semblances mean - and also a bit of me as a writer throwing out a cool semblance theory to those interested. The journey ends, oobleck has his book on Semblances, Jaune has his answers. And now feels closer to each of his friends in turn.

Everyone who reads my stuff knows I dislike semblances, so it probably doesn't come as much of a surprise that he doesn't unlock his, lol!

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Special Author Notes from College Fool:

Some interesting trivia.

First- we've officially reached the point where Coeur and I were in our PM thread when we started posting Writer Games. We're still in the catch-up phase, but not so far behind as we used to be: at this point our rate of fills slowed because of work and the need to write our reflections/impressions. In a couple more weeks, though, we'll hit a point where the posting rate will slow down a fair deal. Which is actually a good thing- at that point, we'll be doing less management of this, and more time to work on our actual stories.

Second- as an extension of the first- the first reader selected prompts are entering the pipeline in the next few days- at least from my end. Those very rare, very lucky few will probably show up in a couple weeks as we finish our catchup. I know a few that have caught Coeur's eye and may come my way soon- and I've got a lucky one in mind as my next prompt to Coeur. Who knows? Maybe it's yours.

Third- Writer Games has officially inspired it's first spinoff/someone actually tries to write it: Caecus Discord has decided to take the plunge with **Democracy** \- the crazy 'Jaune plays Twitch' idea. Coeur and I have no handle or influence on this in any way, and wish Caecus the best of luck... as we snigger to ourselves. That's the idea someone wanted to run with? Really? [/not our proudest fill]


	16. Faunaphobe

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune has a phobia of faunus.

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College Fool's Fill: Faunaphobe

Jaune had hoped that by becoming strong, he could become brave. But when you know your fear is irrational in the first place, is it really enough? When Team JNPR and RWBY begin to drift apart after the docks, is the reason to be hated... or pitied?

When Team RWBY returns to Beacon from the night of the docks, they're in trouble- not just with the faculty, but with their friends in Team JNPR, who scold them for not bringing them in to help with the search for Blake. Team RWBY, though apologetic, isn't sure if they should give the reason- but Blake does anyway, exposing them their heritage. Team JNPR as a whole is cordial and even excited- but Jaune, past the surprise, doesn't really engage.

The status quo resumes with the JNPR-RWBY relations, and nothing seems to change- until Ruby tries to change the dynamics by getting everyone, including Blake, involved with each other. Blake's induction to Team JNPR is relatively good- but Jaune's efforts are abysmal. Stumbling from the start, no common interests, but mostly Jaune's stumbling, and Jaune beats a retreat. Everyone just laughs at Jaune's awkwardness and resolve to try again... until it happens again, and again, and again. Jaune can talk (too much at times) with everyone on Team RWBY except Blake. The repeated efforts lead to Jaune not wanting to be put through it time and time again- and when Jaune passes on eating lunch with Team RWBY to avoid that, gradually his team follows him, to the point that the teams aren't eating together.

At first Blake is indifferent, even amused: it's not like she and Jaune have much in common to talk about. But gradually indifference becomes annoyance, even anger- she and Jaune were never close, but this is going too far. Even her teammates are concerned- Weiss's bad opinion of Jaune is getting worse because of it. Yang and Ruby are confused- Jaune never had a problem with her before the-

In a fury, Blake stalks out to track down Jaune and demand if what she suspects is the truth. Jaune is with Team JNPR, who are clustered between him and her, and the following Team RWBY provokes a stand-off. Jaune admits that it's because Blake is a faunus- and Team RWBY, aghast, follows Blake in her retreat. The JNPR-RWBY split is official, with RWBY 100% behind Blake and disappointed by Jaune. Tentative outreaches from JNPR by Ren and Pyrrha are rebuffed when the two won't denounce Jaune from the start.

The inter-team schism goes on. Ruby is disappointed, mostly hurt, since she was the one who was really friends with Jaune, but she's putting her teammate first. Weiss and Yang are aggravated with Team JNPR, who's standing with Jaune. Blake is hurt by the racism... and is concerned/afraid that JNPR might leak her secret to the school.

A moment of introspection is called for, though, when Team RWBY spots Jaune standing up for Velvet, a faunus, in the face of Cardin's bullying. It seems nonsensical, even hypocritical, as Jaune walks away. Blake, wanting answers, follows with an intent to demand them- but before she can corner and confront Jaune, Velvet has followed to offer her thanks to Jaune. With Blake as an unknown audience, Jaune waves off Velvet's attempt thanks- and when Velvet presses the issue, Jaune is increasingly antsy, until he outright shoves past Velvet and leaves. Blake begins to suspect- especially when Velvet sighs and makes a comment that he always does that. When Blake returns to her team, she shrugs off Yang and Weiss's sympathetic anger and is oddly introspective.

Soon after comes a training event, back in Forever Falls. Though JNPR and RWBY are estranged, Blake asks Ruby and her team for a favor: she wants to talk to Jaune alone, and needs her team to distract NPR to do so. Ruby, optimistic about Blake's intent, agrees, and Blake uses her sneaking skills to find Jaune when he's a bit separated.

Jaune is on edge and nervous- expecting Blake to be furious/angry at him- and to be fair she kind of is. But what she really wants is to know why- why is Jaune making an issue out of her, when he'd stand up for Velvet? Jaune, through heavy breathing, simply says that defending Velvet was what right- and he begs her to leave him alone. She doesn't, and when she presses forward, Jaune runs in the opposite direction into the forest.

Jaune runs, so she chases. She chases, so Jaune runs. Because of his training with Pyrrha he's lighter on his feet- and her attempts to trip and subdue him fail. Pretty quickly they're away from the group- just a brief shout each for their teams- and Blake's dogged pursuit grows increasingly concerned as they into grimm territory. As Grimm Nevermore start to circle in the sky, Blake knows she can't stop. Jaune's attracting the Grimm all on his own.

Eventually Jaune comes to a cliff- no-escape- and Blake corners him. His eyes are wide, but not at the Grimm- and Blake realizes that he's afraid of her. There's no time for talking, though, as the Grimm show up, and it's the two against many. They're able to cooperate- Jaune shields Blake on his own initiative- but when Jaune is knocked to the cliff edge at the end of the fight, about to fall over, it's a 'grab Blake's hand' delimma. Jaune can't- even as Blake reaches out for him- and tumbles over.

Blake uses her weapon's ribbons to catch Jaune- but doing so means she can't defend herself. Jaune tells her to let him go, but she refuses- and Jaune's eyes go wide as he sees a Nevermore approach from above. Afraid for her, and not just over her, Jaune uses Crocea Mors to cut the ribbons and fall, so that Blake can defend herself.

Blake jumps instead- after Jaune, who has no landing strategy- and in cat-ninja acrobatics races down the cliff to catch him in mid-air and ensure a proper landing strategy. It doesn't work- she breaks a leg- but Jaune is alive. When more Grimm, Ursa, surround them, it's Blake telling Jaune to run and leave her- and Jaune shouts at her to shut up as he stands his ground, just in time for the cavalry.

Teams JNPR and RWBY come to the rescue, saving them, and bringing them in. The Team schism is over when JNPR comes to visit Blake in the infirmary- and though JNPR is behind Jaune as he and Blake come to terms, Team RWBY realizes it's to support him, not validate him.

There's no epic story or justification for Jaune's racism- just a bad encounter of fear that unduly traumatized an impressionable young child- and it's something he knows is unfair to her and all the other faunus who had nothing to do with it. It's stupid, irrational, and something he's ashamed of... and that's kind of the point, isn't it? If it was rational, it wouldn't be a phobia. Jaune makes no defense about being faunaphobia, only an apology- he's tried to treat Blake with respect by keeping his distance, tried to help her in the fight, but despite trying to overcome it he hasn't and didn't deserve to be saved by her-

Blake laughs- chuckling at first, before uncharacterastically laughing in relief, Blake accepts his apology and forgives him. Blake muses that she's so used to human hatred and oppression, she's forgotten the opposite occurs- the fear from those who don't want to oppress. That's also the sort of racism she wants to fight in order for human-faunus peace to occur- and the fact that Jaune is trying to overcome his flaw, and will stand up for Faunus despite his fear, has actually raised her opinion of him and given her a bit of hope for the future.

The teams are pleased at the reconciliation- Ruby cheers that they're all friends again, and vows to think up of things they can do to make up for lost time- and peace is restored. When Blake's leg is healed and she's out of the infirmary, it's going to be the best day ever.

With a smiling but gentle push from Pyrrha, and support from Nora and Ren, Jaune speaks up- offering to take notes for Blake and helping her for the missed classes. As an apology, and thank you, for saving his life. And afterwards- maybe, if she'd be willing to help him- help him overcome his-

Blake pretends to consider- since he already saved her life from the ursa after the fall, they're even as far as saving lives go- but Blake drops the pretense with her first smile to him, and agrees to help him with his faunaphobia. They're friends, after all, and, well-

One good turn deserves another, right?

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Coeur's Impression:

El Gaspo Grande - I knew giving a prompt where Jaune is forced to act racist would be nice, and I'm glad to see CF focused on one of my more well-used pairings, Jaune and Blake.

Jaune's phobia being mistaken for racism is both well executed and realistic, Blake is so used to racism - and the whole docks event is about it, so it makes sense that everyone would just assume that was Jaune's problem. Where normally they might at least suspect something else was wrong.

The RWBY JNPR split is deliciously good conflict for any story, and I knew it would be here too - I'm glad to see CF didn't make the mistake many other authors would, which is reducing the tension by having someone almost instantly explain - "Uh, Jaune isn't like this," Ren said "it's just a phobia - please forgive him."

NO! Give us conflict, give us tension. I swear some people seem to be afraid of putting their beloved characters through difficulty, as though they think it makes them cruel. Pressure creates diamonds, and no one shines if there is nothing to overcome. Come the hour, come the man! Heroes are made, not born. You need conflict, for people to grow.

The velvet standing up bit is a good wrench in the works in that it's not enough to solve everything - but makes people pause in confusion. And Blake's confrontation with Jaune (while a little OoC for her to even do that) is well-executed. I think in a full story she would need more build-up of her frustration. Perhaps an easier way would be to play on Blake's affection for Ruby - in that Ruby misses her friends, and that is the reason why Blake wants to mend the bridge. Because honestly as a character - Blake doesn't strike me as the type to really lose sleep over the loss of JNPR. She doesn't really talk to them, so on a selfish level she wouldn't care. But if it hurts her team... who Blake DOES care about - then that angle might work.

The rest is gravy, and well done.

I think the BIGGEST thing for me though - that would turn this from gravy to caviar, would be for the title to be changed, and the summary. So that the readers don't know it's a phobia - not until Jaune admits it to Blake three quarters of the way into the story. A lot of this is from Blake's PoV - so let the readers be confused and hurt with her, experience her anger - feel annoyed at Jaune themselves. And then when the big reveal comes, have everyone share the shock Blake felt.

That would be what turns it around for me :D - I know you might lose some early readers who go "Ugh, but Jaune isn't racist! You suck UGH!" But those who stick with it and read on would be treat to an emotional roller-coaster that is truly satisfying!

Anyway yeah, the title and summary would need to still reflect the content, but remove all suggestions of phobia in my mind, but the summary should also not make the mistake of suggesting racism either. Let the audience (with Blake) assume it is racism.

Good one though, I really liked it.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

El Gaspo Grande- I can't believe I didn't think of those improvements myself, two weeks later!

That is an awesome, and utterly appropriate point I didn't think to raise. The 'let's surprise the reader' might have come across in execution- since this is Blake POV- but in the context of Writer Games, I was hemmed in by the meta. The readers of Writer Games would know the prompt from the start, which spoils the suspense- though anyone who's read my 'Affair or Something' or 'Common Criminal' knows I'm capable/eager to spring one on the reader. I've had a phobia myself, and dealt with some others who do, so I know it's definitely possible to confuse/conflate someone's fear for hatred.

The suggestion I probably wouldn't have thought of on my own was Blake's personal reaction to Jaune's issue. Coeur brings up a great point- that Blake would probably just write off Jaune and JNPR, since they're not that close. There are parts I can see Blake pressing- confronting Jaune for the admission that it is about being a faunus- but the reason of 'doing it for Ruby' is a better motivation to fit Blake's character for the attempt at reconcilliation. This is a great example of what a beta reader/muse can do to help a story: not just correct typos, but improve ideas.

While the story focuses on Jaune and Blake, Jaune (and JNPR) are really absent characters in most respects- their role is the absence, not their presence. Team RWBY has more of a role/presence with Blake, who is the main protagonist. I think that if this story were written, a good/important part of it would be reflecting on the general team relationship between JNPR and RWBY. By this point RWBY has bonded and accepted Blake, but the JNPR-RWBY connection itself still hinges mostly on Jaune and Ruby, while the rest barely interact. This incident would show how fragile the inter-team bonds were- Team JNPR rallying to Jaune when they understand his issue, but RWBY repudiating the tentative feelers because they're rallying around Blake- but ending with a renewed, stronger inter-team bond once Jaune and Blake make a tie. Good stuff.

Also- ending line is a shoutout for Coeur's fic, obviously. Go read it if you want an actual Jaune x Blake story.


	17. Ménage à trois

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Ren and Nora growing up together makes things simple. Ren, Nora, and Jaune growing up together makes things complicated. A story of closeness, confusion, and trying to grow together rather than grow apart.

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Couer's Fill: Ménage à trois

Thoughts: Argh, another tough one. Don't make this into a one-up-manship... I can think of evilly difficult ones too, sigh.

I really want to avoid the cliche childhood fic with cutesy shenanigans and the like. I'm also not in a mood for heavy drama and depression either, sigh.

F*** it! Let's invert the s*** out of this.

Title: Ménage à trois  
Summary: Two's company, three's a crowd. But when Nora and Ren decide they want to give it a go with childhood friend Jaune Arc? Well then... how could things possibly become awkward?

7-Beat Romance - In a funky way  
Rated M For: oh my God they're putting their thingies into her you-know-what!  
MODERN WORLD AU - as per Theme. Eh, it'll fit I guess :D

Beat 1 - Status Quo - Nora and Ren are a couple and have been for a long time. They grew up in an orphanage together with Jaune. The first chapter is the couple's relationship from Jaune's PoV. He recalls how their friendship started

"When Nora Valkyrie decided you were her friend, that was really it. You could struggle, if you wanted... try to avoid her. It was all for naught. Ren had simply shrugged and welcomed him to the group. As one apparent prisoner to another."

Jaune reflects on how the two got together, and how at first they had worried it would alienate him. He smiles, remembering laughing at them and saying he'd known all along. Who do they think each of them came to for advice and to admit their crushes?

Ren and Nora are happy, as is Jaune - who has no luck with women of his own. He lacks confidence, and his virginity is a trying point for him, since he never knows hot act around women. He feels like he needs practice.

Beat 2 - The Proposition - Ren and Nora invite Jaune to a dinner at their house, and after pleasantries are done they admit that they have been trying new kinks in the bedroom. Jaune is initially "la la la, Too much information" before they admit they started thinking about his problem with women.

Jaune is all ears, wanting advice, and they say that perhaps it comes from a lack of confidence. He has no experience of how to act, and that might make it awkward. Perhaps if he had some... Ren coughs and looks away, and Nora laughs and says;

"Basically Jauney, we were wondering if you wanted to try a threesome?"

Beat 3 - Conflict 1 - Jaune is embarrassed and uncertain at the idea. They are his best friends, but at the same time Ren is a guy. A bro! And Nora is his girl - and also kinda like his own sister. Except that yes he admits she is beautiful, and he does sorta love her too. Jaune asks for time to think on it, which they agree to. Ren explains that they want to try it once in their relationship, and that there's no one they would trust more than Jaune.

But if he isn't comfortable, they will consider other people.

Jaune seeks advice from some friends, Yang and Ruby - Ruby is blushing, but Yang bursts out laughing and basically advises him to give it a go. "You're all adults, what's the worst that can happen? People do this all the time."

Jaune also seeks love advice online, and a penpal says it might work too. It will be experience for him, and maybe his virginity is more of a mental block than he realises. Lose it, with friends no less, and it might make him feel more confident. Better than risking it with a sex-worker surely?

Beat 4 - Raising the Stakes - Jaune agrees and the three awkwardly prepare for a threesome. It is embarrassing and slow. Both Ren and Jaune blush like schoolgirls whenever their legs so much as touch one another, but they get the deed done nonetheless.

Jaune enjoyed it, more than he thought he might, as did Nora. The three sleep together, and Jaune can't help but think the three of them sleeping together once more reminds him of when they were younger. Barring the elephant in the room.

Beat 5 - Conflict 2 - Jaune does feel more confident, but now can't stop thinking of Nora in a sexual way. He realises he did kinda love her all along, and this has only made his feelings come out in full. He feels jealous of Nora and Ren's relationship, and although he would never dare break it up, he cannot stop his lingering glances.

Jaune seeks advice, but his friends have none to give - having no experience in that kind of situation. Yang suggests he just admits it, tell them and work through it. They've been friends forever... so just talk,

Beat 6 - The Midnight Hour - Jaune decides to take Yang's advice and approach the duo. In stress he decides to fortify himself a little with vodka. Dutch courage as it were. He approaches the house and is invited in by Nora, but Ren is out. Tipsy but determined, Jaune explains everything to her, before lost in his own confession he kisses her.

Nora is shocked at first but reciprocates, and despite Jaune's mounting shame and guilt the two bed one another.

Jaune wakes up to find Nora n*** next to him and realises what he's done. He plans to flee, thinking if he leaves the country then maybe Nora and Ren can be happy together.

Beat 7 - My Boys - Ren confronts Jaune before he can leave the house, and Jaune breaks down in shame, admitting everything and apologising to Ren. He says how he will be leaving, moving away to Mistral perhaps - the distance should cool him down and get him out of the way. Ren simply sighs and tells Jaune this was probably Nora's plan all along.

Jaune is confused, shocked also. Nora comes out in a gown and makes a comment about how she always imagined she would be with her boys forever, and that while life with Ren was good - it wasn't complete. We're three parts of a puzzle - and I don't think I can make it with just two. "Heh, maybe I'm just greedy, or selfish. But I want it to be the three of us forever."

Jaune turns to Ren who shrugs. "I wouldn't have agreed to this in the first place if I didn't agree. Though still... let's not cross swords."

Jaune is flabbergasted, stutters, cannot understand. But Ren just laughs. "It's Nora remember, it's not our place to understand. She made her decision long ago. We could never argue with her as kids, what makes you think anything has changed now?"

"Good point Renny! Now come on boys, it's too early to be up."

Jaune follows them, still confused, but as the three lay down together and go to sleep, he can't help but think things finally feel complete.

Done.

Eh, weird, very weird! Ending needs some polish, but it's there!

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C.F.'s Impression:

I was hoping for adolescent confusion rather than cutesy shenanigans, honestly. Coeur just has a dirty mind- as you'll see more of later.

So yeah, this was the first attempt at a 'theme week' in which we kept gaving broad/open-ended fills, but tried to fit a theme to it. A theme- 'Real World'- as a filter for the prompt. It was a mixed success- I ended up taking most of them, while Coeur had strong canon-universe fills like 'Unscarred'- and but it had some interesting results. Originally it was intended that Theme Week would be it's own posting week, but Coeur never really gave me another and we just sort of moved on until later.

I'm afraid I don't have much to say here- it's all quite reasonable, and there are no issues. There's no flaws on a planning or plausibility level- maybe you find the idea of a polyamory relationship to be inherently wrong/unstable, but the resolution of the story is that it's going to be attempted rather than it's guaranteed success- and the character motivations are by and large reasonable (or at least reasonably unreasonable). I think the story is a good example of the idea of how sexual intimacy screws things up in ways that you don't intend or expect- the one night stand that's not 'just' a one night stand- and that is a theme we come across occasionally.

Otherwise- not much to say here. At this phase of the game we started edging a little further from Jaune and trying to bring in underused characters. This was my attempt at bringing in Nora and Ren.

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Coeur's Reflection:

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Oh God, I'm going to Hell. So yeah, this prompt - it was during a "real world" bit where we had to write them as real world AU's... which was tough since I couldn't SEE any conflict between the three growing up - unless romance was involved.

And then this happened. Oh Gods.

Before anyone crucifies me for smut... it works. All romance is smut based in a sense, and when you're 27 like me, a relationship without any sex just feels weird. Maybe we're more open in the UK, who knows. But I've DONE THIS. (Not the fallen in love bit after mind you, but the whole trying it with a - you know what I'll stop there. Let's just say I'm drawing from some real world experience.)

Though this contains sex, I never wanted it to be a key part of the story - rather it is the emotions they feel, and the struggles they go through. There's also a lack of other characters - other than as distant people they know. That's intention, as this is about these three - not anyone else. I didn't want Pyrrha's affection muddling things up, when it's already very muddled!

I wouldn't even go into detail for the scenes, the first would talk of awkwardness - while the second. Hell, I'd just end the chapter with Jaune kissing Nora, and start the next one with him waking up beside her n***.

So let's not accuse me of PWP here please. The reveal that it was Nora's plan all along - eh, maybe that suggests she is manipulative, I don't know. It was meant more as a reflection of her childish nature - even as she grows older. She just doesn't play by the same rules as others, and doesn't see the world in the same way. And like any good Warhammer Orc, if she believes hard enough - the world gives way to her.

Ren's always been (in the show at least) shown as the guy to just go along with what Nora says - and in a sense, I imagine if Jaune grew up with them, he'd do much the same.

I considered ending this with Jaune moving away, sacrificing their friendship to protect Ren and Nora's marriage from his own lustful urges. But that felt pointlessly tragic - and while I can write tragedy (just ask CF), it should be for a reason - or to support a theme, or prove a point. This one is just Jaune running away, which isn't character growth.

So yeah, here it is. It firs the structure system, even if I felt a little awkward after having written it.


	18. Prism

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune had never made it as a hunter, that much was true. But he had made it as was an under-cover police officer. But his latest task - infiltrating Beacon to try and find this "Queen" of the criminal mastermind? And if possible kill her?

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College Fool's Fill: Prism

Summary: Good kingdoms don't rely on training child soldiers. Bad kingdoms train children to be secret police and ferret out the traitors. But then, that's what happens in a world where the Color Revolution failed.

Outline:

An AU of canon in which the Color Revolution failed- and in which the Monochrome Empire rules the world, crushing dissent in the name of reclaiming Remnant from the Grimm.

Jaune is an orphan of the state- and taken in for that reason to be raised in the secret police. To them, he's just Jauqe- a basic, sterile, colorless name like all other reliable citizens. 'Jaune' is just the name his parents gave him before they died- and his common 'undercover' name when hunting for dissidents. All his life he's been a spy as much as an informant- trying to find revolutionary sentiment that would defy the Empire's security and stability. It's not happy work… but it's necessary for the Empire to function as a stable, orderly place in which crime is rare and in which the Grimm are methodically being pushed back year by year. Only indisciplined youths, malcontents, and faunus rebels mar the orderly cleanliness of the cities- sometimes with bombs, sometimes with graffiti. Either is evidence for rebellious sentiment, as one often leads to the other.

Jaune gets tasked to find the mastermind of one such rebel group. There's evidence that there's a network of insurrectionist activity hiding in Beacon- the premier military academy for training the next generation of leaders and soldiers of the empire. Referred to as 'Queen' in punk graffiti, she threatens to corrupt the future leaders of the nation.

Jaune gets the task of going undercover into Beacon- for a variety of reasons, but mostly his backstory. Officially, his parents died as heroes- even if his own abilities are lacking, his placement could be attributed to a legacy scholarship. Unofficially, Jaune's parents were executed for color treason- and it's a testament to how thorough his indoctrination is that he doesn't flinch or respond to the revelation, thinking they must have deserved it if they supported Color Thought, the ultimate boogeyman of the Monochrome Empire after the devastating Color Rebellion of the past. Jaune's backstory- and his birth name- are advantages that will encourage any conspirators to sympathize and think he harbors resentment against the Empire. And his expected low performance in class will be more likely to make him appeal to the malcontents and irresponsible youths who would defy Imperial discipline. The only preparation he gets is the unlocking of his aura, and a crash course on what he should know about the highly restricted ability. All so he can fit in.

And so he does- thinking more in terms of being a high-functioning sociopath, or at least in terms of how every action should reflect on him, rather than any innate kindness. He helps Ruby up in hopes of making of positive impression and building a future ally or informant. He plays his stomach sickness up more than he has to, to seem more harmless. But he can't shake the unseemliness of disorder- not in some ways- so even though he does feel an attraction for Weiss- his ideal of the beautiful, composed, orderly girl who wears her ponytail straight down the middle- he suppresses he feelings rather than express. Which is kind of how life works in the Monochrome Empire- suppression of anything not rational and reasonable and for the greater good.

Initiation happens. It's more of a combat simulation than a survival exercise- Hunters go out and kill Grimm, rather than find relics of the past- and it broadly reflects the militarization of the Hunters under the Empire, and Jaune's own perspectives. As a well-read undercover agent, he knows all the famous people- including Pyrrha and Weiss. As a security agent, he holds an innate suspicion for faunus like Blake (who has to expose her race) as potential insurgents. And he's totally playing Ruby- and Yang- as cover and potential leads. Ruby is harmless, he decides- an idealist wanting to excel- but Yang is a suspect in a grafitti gang for her outgoing nature. Same with Nora.

All the same, Jaune plays his part- which isn't hard, because he is weak- even as he has to use his sharp mind to help the team survive some of the training traps they come across. Jaune quickly gets dubbed the analytical/brain person- with Ren and Weiss- and everyone falls into nice orderly pieces. The work, and the stress, is hard- but Jaune's pretense at friendship pays off.

After earning trust in the first weeks and playing the part of stiff but actually harmless and easier going guy- Jaune makes breakthrough when Yang proves to be exactly what he pegged her to be. After a hard week and some grief from the much stronger Cardin, Yang invites Jaune to unwind at a graffiti gang outing. In graffiti gangs, everyone is heavily disguised and goes by code names- and Jaune chooses his old fallback, 'Jaune.' Jaune's knowledge of graffiti gangs is the Monochrome perspective: graffiti gangs go out, painting the cities undersides in chaotic and unseemly ways, and are seen as the starting points for defiance and future insurgent activity.

The current leader of the graffiti gang- and the suspect for ties with the rebels- is Queen, a heavily disguised girl with a red ponytail offset just so, who provides the supplies. She's the target- and Jaune has to earn her trust if he's to uncover her identity. Jaune knows he has to fit in, which is why he takes part, even as he struggles to keep up in his double life.

But in the act of making graffiti, something changes- Jaune's expressions of color begin to become better, more creative- and to his secret horror, he feels an adrenaline rush over his 'art', and disappointment when it's cleaned over by the orderly city maintenance. Jaune is going tinted- the term used for good citizens who become discontented and unreasonably opposed to the good of the Empire.

Jaune is horrified- and even reports himself as compromised. He wants to flee, but he has to stay for his mission- and because the graffiti gang is opening up to him. Other members he suspected become obvious- Ren and Nora, and Blake, and senior students like CFVY. But the real shocker is that Pyrrha- the model student- joins after following him one day. Jaune had thought she was Queen- red ponytail and all- but instead, rather than rat him out like she should, as his friend and partner she joins him in this criminality. Jaune begins to feel guilt at the prospect of turning them all in- and in his first act of defiance to his handlers, doesn't mention their names in his report to his superiors. Instead he reports something else that happened soon after- that Queen, caught up in a moment in which she gave a speech about how their art was expression they could never get top-side, allowing them to do things they'd never dream of otherwise, gave Jaune a kiss. It's an act of defiance, she tells him- against what's proper, against what's expected.

Jaune's superiors are ecstatic- telling him to carry on cultivating ties with Queen, who's taken an interest in him. And as Jaune's underground punk artist career goes, his place in the school gets better- better grades and methodical practice, along with help from Pyrrha, improving his standing. He… doesn't so much catch Weiss's eye, as much as elevate to a point of being worth noticing, and Jaune fills a thrill as they approach cordial. The closer to cordial they get, the more Jaune wants to express his feelings and confess- and instead brings it out to the graffiti gang, where he's almost started a punk relationship with Queen. The two of them are emotional outlets for eachother- the idea of lightning rods for the stresses of the prim decorum of the Empire- the passion Jaune feels for Weiss, without the restraint, and Queen's sense of rebellion against strict expectations.

By this time, Jaune has identified pretty much everyone in the graffiti gang- basically every student of note bar Weiss- and is coming to terms with the foreseeable end of his assignment. Even as he finally gets close to Weiss- to the point of being able to claim that they're friends- the weight of guilt over the upcoming turnover for his friends weighs on him. Jaune rationalizes it- that it's for their own good that they be turned in and punished now, which will be far lighter than if they turned to actual rebellion later- but the guilt weighs on him at the gang outings. Queen notices- and their relationship takes a turn for the comforting, and increasingly intimate, as she's worried.

The same day he resolves that he'll try to formally court Weiss after this is over- sure that she'll understand the importance of decorum and order- is the night he learns that Queen **_is_ ** Weiss- that she dies her hair with the same colors she supplies the gang, that she's the ring leader. She makes the commonality that interested her- her mother was killed by the Empire for color-sympathies, just as Jaune's were, and she's made it her mission to defy the Empire by proudly wearing her color-name openly and using a the nondescript 'Queen' for defiance. In another time, Weiss Schnee would never have done anything with Jaque Arc- but she's defiant Queen down here, and he's Jaune, and the act of rebellion makes it all so good.

Jaune is rocked- and torn- and- and tries to cover it up, realizing he's so compromised by the colors and feelings for her that he can't report her. Agent Jaque doesn't go rogue- Jaune goes rouge. Jaque doesn't try to court Weiss at school- Jaune carries on a graffiti punk affair. They paint wonderful colors, and Yang makes horrible puns- calling them 'Yellow Snow'. Jaune tries to lead his superiors on a goose chase.

It doesn't work. They realize- or they always knew- or they had another agent. But they know that Jaune was lying to them. Jaune is arrested and charged, in class, for treason and conspiracy in a color rebellion. Exposed as the punk artist Jaune, Jaque sees the suppressed horror in his friends faces- and the fear as they realize he knows them.

Jaune is arrested. Jaune is interrogated. Jaune is tortured. But Jaune doesn't break- singing defiance, finger painting with his own blood, and escaping into his own imagination, hoping that his defiance will buy time for his friends, and Weiss, escape. His former handlers and supervisors lament his corruption and fall, but he's never felt so alive in the sterile black and white cell. He expects to die- a clean death is the best he can expect from the Empire- but he now remembers his own parent's death, and understands why they did it.

Instead of being executed, though, he's broken out- a mutiny by his friends, and the class, that sets Beacon alight. Nearly all the students were involved in the graffiti gang at some point or another- nearly all of them were complicit- and all of them were interested in making art rather than war. But now that the Empire is trying to crackdown and make them all traitors- well, traitors they'll be. Even members of the Beacon faculty- teachers who occasionally looked the other way or were once themselves part of the Beacon tradition- are considered compromised now.

Beacon revolts- in a defiant escape, the Hunters fight off the Empire's troops with paintball guns and noxious gas which (literally) paints the town red. As Jaune is led out of the prison in a stupor, a garish display of color is everywhere- the cafeteria is a tie-die foodfight, the dorms are is covered with toilet paper and spray paint, and someone's even made the Beacon Belltower to look like a giant penis.

It's a non-lethal defiance better than open rebellion- the world's greatest graffiti- and control of the broadcast tower lets the students broadcast it across the world. In it, Weiss- knowing she'll be exposed- openly declares herself and proclaims a new Color Revolution- not one to destroy the Monochrome Empire, but paint it anew, and she calls on everyone to rise up in non-violent defiance.

Coming down from the tower, Weiss comes to the cheers of her team, and deals with being over-amped and excited with herself- channeling her 'Queen' persona for the first time as Weiss Schnee. Jaune is brought before her- and even before her judgement, thinks how beautiful and animated she is, things he only associated with Queen, even with white hair. When his charges are laid out and he's asked if he has anything to say, Jaune simply confesses he's in love with her.

Flash forward epilogue

A few months later, Weiss and the rest of Beacon are in an underground graffiti gang base, a safe house. The Color Revolution has settled, but is still ongoing- it's a non-violent revolt in progress, as many parts of the Empire are finding themselves painted… and many in the Empire's security forces being unable or unwilling to detain so many minor rule breakers. The public embarrassment- even as it was non-destructive- has thrown the Empire into chaos- hardliners who want a bloody crackdown are opposed by moderates who think it's ridiculous but ultimately harmless, and tolerance for color and expression are flourishing across the empire. There's even talk of an eventual pardon for the Beacon Academy- the revolt of which was a major political upset for the old guard, especially as teachers under Ozpin are able to blackmail many of the hardliners with their own indiscretions of the Beacon tradition.

It's all politics- and it's not a guarantee- and the students there resolve to keep the momentum alive by means of color (and some embarrassing paintjobs for the hardlinerss). Jaune emerges with the selection of the night's target- and he and Weiss have plans to put beautiful Yellow Snow all over it.

 _Fin_

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Coeur's Impression:

Without a doubt my favourite fic from CF - Prism is a perfect example of what you can do with an AU set-up, while remaining interesting. Although RT seems to ignore most of it, they created a world with quite a bit of history, and the colour revolution is an interesting part of it. Taking that further, subverting it no less is a nice touch - and although it all feels very street and emo (something I am utterly meh on) it still works as a pretty damn good fic, with interesting world building.

A problem with many who take this route is that they either try to info dump too much at any given time, or that they don't think things through properly, and leave gaping holes in it. What you need to do is keep bringing up pieces of the world's history, in how people react - and what they say. It's "show, don't tell" - wherein you're showing us what the colour revolution means through the frustration, the rebellion of the teens. And we don't learn what the Government is like via flashbacks or exposition - or someone saying "As you know Jim - the Govt is bad!" - We learn how controlling they are through how Jaune acts, as their representative.

He is cold, colourless - and from his lack of emotions we begin to envision the people who shaped him. That makes us much more likely to believe it, because we have proof.

The defiant revolt of Beacon - Jaune refusing to tattle on Weiss. Weiss even being the one... it's all great. One of the nice ways in which she fits is not only that it's a shift from her usual attitude, but that she is white herself - white is the absence of colour. Dat symbolism.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Ever have an idea you knew was good, but also knew you weren't good enough to carry out? This is mine. I know practically nothing about punk culture. Or subcultures. Or graffiti. Or visual art. Me trying to write the details of this would be like a blind woman describing color.

I do, however, know something about authoritarian regimes and being overly disciplined- and I know how liberating and exhilarating even harmless acts of rebellion can be. This is a story about suppression, and resorting to expression in secret, and that's something we can all understand- the giddy rush and guilty pride at doing something an authority says you shouldn't feel, but do anyway because it feels justified and right.

Coeur called out something relevant about the romance- how Weiss, white, is the 'colorless' color. But put it through a prism, which sounds like prison, and it becomes every color. It was relevant to this AU. I'm iffy on the description, but I feel Weiss and Jaune were the most appropriate pairing for this story. Weiss's biggest problem with Jaune in canon, I feel, is his lack of discipline/decorum- which, by his backstory change, he has now. But the basis of attraction fits the idea of the immaturity/rebellious phase that the graffiti gang adheres to: Queen is doing something her Father/the Authority wouldn't want her to do, liking Jaune is something they wouldn't approve of, and that's why she does it. Dating what Daddy hates, in a sense. It works because of the oppressive nature of the setting- one so oppressively rigid that Weiss can't even wear her ponytail off-center like she does in canon- which makes it another form of defiance. They might grow out of it- might mature and grow up and grow apart- but for now, it's a volatility that works well with the idea of release from suppression- Jaune, who had been suppressing his feelings in school, and Weiss, who's suppressed her rebeliousness.

It didn't make it into the plot summary, because it wasn't plot, but I figured I should point out that the idea of the gang was that each person had their unique style of graffiti, one that would echo their combat choice of canon. For good measure, I should have pointed out that part of the monochrome empire is that everyone uses standardized weapons- not unique ones- which makes the graffiti=combat more important.

Ruby would use a very wide paintroller at the end of a stick- ie, the 'scythe'- with her trademark style and tag being her funning as fast as she can while rolling, with the occasional sharp right turn or 'scythe'.

Weiss, as Queen, is more of the supporter/supplier of everyone. She has all the colors, depending what she feels like on the day, and uses a wand that lets her flick the paint with pin-point accuracy.

Blake uses two paint brushes tied together with a ribbon, so that she can get curves on the wall from a distance.

Yang uses boxing gloves soaked in paint. She just punches the wall- or punches the air to cause of shotgun-style splatter.

Jaune uses a basic paintbrush and paint pan, which works as his 'shield'- which, as his tag, he finishes any work by 'shield bashing' the paint pan into the wall. Less a solo-artist, Jaune's style is to tie his things into someone else's work.

Nora uses a paint-soaked mop... and paint balloons. Come on, was there any doubt?

Pyrrha uses a much thinner brush and a paint pallete, compared to Jaune's wider brush and paint pan. Pyrrha is a precision artist- her works are smaller, but full of detail.

Ren dual-wields green spray cans, which he unleashes during acrobatics.


	19. Ozpin Sleeps With Student

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - It was wrong, it should never have happened. But Ozpin knew that lying to oneself was never the way to solve a problem. But how could he react, when he realised he had slept with one of his own students?

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College Fool's Fill: Ozpin Sleeps with Student

Ozpin of Beacon Academy lives a dangerous life- Professor of a leading police academy by day, but special advisor to the police, and with the ear of the government as well. He's powerful, connected, and able to do so much good from his position- and even successful, when he leads the roll-up of the White Fang cartel, and the capture of his nemisis, Cinder Fall. Cinder is a leading politician, very powerful and very corrupt, and taking her down has been Ozpin's goal for years.

For once, even he can celebrate and goes out drinking- and makes a mistake that threatens it all when he wakes up in an unfamiliar bed with one of his students in the kitchen of the apartment... Jaune Arc.

Ozpin is confused- not remembering what happened- until the nervous young man asks if they're good about his transcripts. Ozpin pales as he remembers- remembers Jaune Arc finding him in a bar, celebrating and hammered. Remembers Arc taking him to home... but then Ozpin demanding to go to Jaune's home, closer. Remembers drunkenly admitting he knew about Jaune's forged transcripts into this very prestigious police academy- and remembers Jaune, desperate, asking what he could do to keep it a secret.

Ozpin doesn't remember anything else- but the evidence in the bed is damning.

Ozpin is frightened and alarmed at first- afraid that Jaune will report him- but his calculating mind calms him. He has Jaune on a leash, not the other way around- Jaune is afraid of being exposed and expelled- and as long as Jaune is afraid of him and doesn't think he's afraid of what Jaune could do, he'll be safe. It's a troubling thought, but Ozpin rationalizes it as a moral necessity- if Ozpin is outed now, the case against Cinder could fall apart: Ozpin's testimony would go from credible to trash, and she'd escape. For the good of everyone, Ozpin has to blackmail Jaune into silence.

Ozpin pulls rank and strings, and gets Jaune into his office the next day. Officially it's to address Jaune's strugling grades and leadership position- unofficially, it's to emphasize the power imbalance. Ozpin strikes the fear of the previous night- which Ozpin still doesn't remember- into Jaune, and Jaune is cowed. Accepting this, Ozpin uses the remaining time to teach Jaune a lesson- of strategy and chess- so that they can both honestly claim what went on in the office.

Ozpin keeps an eye on Jaune for the days and weeks going forward- including regular visits- and the tenor gradually changes as the night fades into the distance. Ozpin adopts a mentoring role, and Jaune starts to flourish, and as the trial approaches it's almost possible for Ozpin to forget what occured. Ozpin actually begins to enjoy mentoring Jaune, takes pride in Jaune's growth, and even gets involved in giving Jaune romance advice (which is to say- avoid emotional entanglements).

Eventually, though, Jaune makes progress and becomes just smart enough to be dangerous: pointing out over a game of chess that he can only be threatened with expulsion for his transcript until he graduates. Ozpin cheerfully agrees and says by then the issue will be over- but contingency mode starts thinking of a plan to get a more enduring sort of blackmail. After all, for the greater good, Ozpin still needs to be free to act for the next foes after Cinder.

Ozpin does... something. I'm not decided- either gets Jaune involved with the criminal underworld as an undercover spy, or presses him into sex that neither of them want- with the purpose of documenting it in a way that he can hold over Jaune for the rest of his life. Either Jaune is forced to do something evil, or suffer under the blackmail that he did favors for Ozpin to cheat his way in. Ozpin hopes that with this, he'll be safe, and that life can go back to the pleasant norm.

It doesn't. The trust he and Jaune had developed is sundered, and the tension is palpable. Jaune is able to hide the tension and act the part in public- deceiving his friends- but the tenor between him and Ozpin collapses. Amiable challenges become hostile opposition, even as Ozpin regrets the necessity of what's done, but assures himself it's for the greater good: Cinder will be put away, Ozpin will continue to act as he sees fit, and even Jaune will go on to be a good policeman.

Ozpin justifies itself for the greater good- but one day, over chess, Jaune beats him- rhetorically and in-game- by announcing that he intends to drop out of Beacon and file charges against Ozpin. Ozpin, alarmed, tries to argue against it- for Jaune's sake rather than his own- but Jaune refuses to care. He wanted to cleans the world of corruption, not succumb to it- and he calls out Ozpin for what he's done to him.

Ozpin, panicked, knocks Jaune out and imprisons him. Ozpin rationalizes and tries to justify himself- but, continuing to talk with his prisoner, ultimately faces the truth. He made a mistake, and the mistake snowballed because of what he did, and now he's become the self-serving criminal he despised. Even if it's for the greater good, what he did was wrong.

Ozpin returns Jaune and confesses everything, from his mistake and regret to his reasoning for gaining more blackmail. He admits what he did was wrong- and that once Cinder is put away, he'll release Jaune and let him do as he will. But Jaune can't wait- because, having learned from Ozpin, Jaune had a backup plan in case this happened. Jaune set evidence of the blackmail to release is he didn't return within a certain amount of time- sure to blow open the trial. Ozpin will have to trust Jaune- trust the very person he wronged- in order to get the greater good.

Ozpin, hating the lack of control but applauding Jaune's play, does. Jaune leaves, and the evidence never leaks.

Ozpin goes to court, and notes Jaune is in the audience. Jaune listens to Ozpin recount Cinder's crimes and why she must be stopped, and says nothing when the verdict is announced. Ozpin goes home, expecting to be front-page news in the morning, and is resolved to accept it.

Nothing happens. Not the next day, or the next, or the next. The next time he sees Jaune, it's at their weekly meeting- and Ozpin has no idea what to expect.

What he doesn't expect, over the familiar chessboard, is forgiveness.

More than angry, Jaune is disappointed in Ozpin- because Ozpin never needed blackmail Jaune in the first place. Jaune claims that nothing happened the first night- that while Ozpin admitted to knowing the transcripts were fake, he also explained why he let it stand- because he was friends with Jaune's father, and wanted to see if Jaune could become as good as one. There was never any sex between the two- not until/unless Ozpin, in his paranoia, forced it because of a lack of trust.

Jaune is angry- but understand why Ozpin did what he did, and agrees that Cinder needed to be put away. And because he understands Ozpin, he believes Ozpin's earlier apology and sincerity- and because of that, doesn't want Ozpin's name and ability to do good dragged into the mud of a court proceeding that ruins both of them. Ozpin did a crime, but can still do good things, and Jaune has come to accept Ozpin's lessons of greater good requiring unpleasant choices, even if you're the one wronged.

Jaune's demand is simple- Ozpin resign from Beacon, walk away from all the power he had, and start over again. Prove himself above the insecurity and paranoia, but most of all the corruption, of power. Walk away from the Cinder-like figure he was becoming, and the rationalization that he was somehow above corruption.

Ozpin tips his King. Though there are still a number of moves to go, he's already lost this match.

The two meet in a park some time later, playing a public game of chess. Jaune has graduated as a respectable anti-corruption investigator. Ozpin teaches chess, and critical thinking, as a hobby. The two discuss things as old friends, about Jaune's rising stature and how the political upheaval following Ozpin's departure is subsiding. Jaune asks if Ozpin has any advice- and Ozpin laughs about the dangers of drinking with students.

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Coeur's Impression:

Part of the modern world theme we were working on, which is why it isn't a hunter academy.

We had some small disagreements on this - not arguments certainly, just differences of opinion. I think the AU setting worked well - and I'm totally fine with the yaoi element in here, I have no bias.

Ozpin's slippery descent into corruption is a very tragic story, which is nice - some people just label him as either good or evil, but few understand the good but flawed angle. He has made many sacrifices in his journey to stop Cinder - and fatally his final sacrifice was his own morals. Made all the more tragic by the fact that it was completely unnecessary!

I really liked that angle, and while Ozpin feels cruel - you can see the small things he does to try and redeem himself, like teaching Jaune chess - mentoring him in a sense. Sure you could say that was just to keep an eye on him, but reading between the lines you can tell Ozpin doesn't like what he is becoming either.

The ending is also nice, Jaune going with forgiveness and the symbolism of Ozpin tipping his king. I'd have liked to see more at the end (and there might be, my PM was cut short from CF) about how Ozpin is happier now without all the stress. Maybe he even found a nice woman (or man) or maybe Jaune surprises Ozpin by asking him out - who knows. But i'd like some more happy ending for Ozpin.

Either way - my one main problem with this was the characters used. And not in a way meant as an insult to CF.

You see, conflict is rife in this fic - but it often feels like all the conflict is on Ozpin's side. He is suitably self-hating for what he has done, but all the pressure on him feels like it is aimed inwards - at least until near the end when the court case happens.

The problem is... Ozpin is dominant - and Jaune is submissive. Which seems like it would fit together well, and there's the issue - it does fit together well! So it lacks a certain explosive conflict between them, which is a shame. Normally if you want to use a blackmail conflict like this, you'd put together two characters who would really clash. Be it on ideological reasons, or racial ones (maybe a faunus and a racist, i.e. cardin x Velvet) - but Jaune and Ozpin mesh too easily. Jaune's too quick to give up, and Ozpin takes advantage.

Later it works, because Jaune slowly becomes more dominant - but I fear for the first 65% of the story the conflict would seem too tame.

Now imagine if it were Yang for instance, instead of Jaune - maybe Ruby sneaks in early, and Ozpin finds out - so there's new blackmail material. Yang is explosive and dominant herself, but is cowed by the fear of her sister getting in trouble and having her dream shattered.

Ozpin and Yang would constantly argue, she would push his boundaries - while he would always be struggling to rein her in. The conflict would then come from the two of them, as WELL as Ozpin's self-hatred for himself - but now also from a third angle too - Yang's self-harming to protect her sister. In a real sense Yang would need to learn to let Ruby stand on her own two feet for once - and I could imagine once Ruby finds out what Yang is sacrificing on her part, Ruby would be aghast, creating yet another crisis.

Yang would also benefit greatly from Ozpin's lessons, as her biggest fault is a lack of planning, etc... So Yang as a character would grow more than jaune too.

If you wanted to, you could even turn it into an eventual romance between Yang and Ozpin. Where in the process of "testing her limits" Yang actually comes to enjoy the game - though she never admits it. And Ozpin relishes having such a worthy opponent. I can imagine as such a dominant and independent woman - Yang might actually genuinely enjoy being forced down a little - not r*** per se, but have a small kink for being dominated by a stronger man.

Either way, it works well - but I can't help but think Yang would have made a more explosive partner here xD

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Did this story make you feel good? If so- good. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

There's actually a reason for choosing Jaune here, rather than on of the RWBY girls, and what Coeur raises as problems I thought of as advantages. I wasn't interested in romance- I was subverting it- and ultimately I think Jaune was the best candidate. Not simply Jaune is my 'focus character' for RWBY. It's actually the idea of story themes and tie-ins to canon.

The prompt- and the theme of it being real-world, brought to mind what Ozpin is supposed to be. Ultimately, Ozpin is the benevolent authority figure- the law-bringer, even if he's sometimes selective about what laws to uphold when, and a manipulator to boot, which puts him as 'greater good' rather than 'lawful.' In a real-world setting, that ties naturally to a police role of sorts- which fits the canon echoe of Ozpin being against Cinder's criminal conspiracy. However, the prompt is explicit about Ozpin violating the rules and norms of his position and role- sleeping with a student- which for me meant that rule-breaking was going to be a major part of the story. And if it was as a rule-breaking, the student needed to be applicable as a foil. And if both lead characters were going to be rule-breakers, then rule-breaking was going to be a theme.

Using that, Blake and Jaune were the best candidates- both lying their way into academy- and both of whom Ozpin had let in knowing. That made them better foils for Ozpin than the rest of the cast- but between the two of them, Jaune was the better candidate to feeling blackmailed. Blake's character arc is as a rebel (anti-authority)- and when her secret is revealed, she ran away from her dreams. Jaune, when his secret is discovered- well, he submits to blackmail. I don't see Blake as a character submitting to any Ozpin manipulation- but Jaune going along with it, especially when Ozpin imagines worse than he did, was far more credible. Especially when Ozpin blackmailing Jaune into submission, even sex, emphasizes the wrongness of it: Jaune is not homosexual, and Ozpin didn't want to make the mistake in the first place, and so it's a bad dynamic that only gets worse. It's supposed to make you feel wrong, and argue against any hint of a romance- which was the point. Ozpin waking up in a students bed wasn't romantic, it was a mistake, and the story is in what comes next.

Moving past the character selection...

Ozpin being cold and calculating was definitely the intent- with the intent that while Jaune becomes more like him, he becomes more like Jaune in return. At the start, Ozpin would have fought to retain his power and influence- not just for Cinder's trial, but beyond. He knows he can do good things with the power, and the greater good justifies immorality. By the end, he's more moral, and will walk away.

Jaune does need some work- even though it's a story from Ozpin's perspective. So does Cinder- I realize I didn't explain her, but she's supposed to be the corrupt politician. The foil/evil-inversion of Ozpin, who uses crime and what not for her own ends. The 'I am nothing like her' foil.

The idea of the second-stage blackmail is that it's the point at which Ozpin feels he's losing control. Jaune is rising- able enough to start speaking to Ozpin as almost-equals- and realizing the power dynamic is illusionary. Might have been better if Jaune realized/inferred/joked that he could blackmail Ozpin after that first night, while Ozpin wouldn't be able to blackmail him about transcripts after he graduates. Their mutual blackmail will end in Jaune's favor- and Ozpin feels a loss of control. Ozpin feels a need to strike before Jaune realizes that Ozpin really has no power over him- to reassert stability- and that's what prompts Ozpin to do something actually evil.

What that evil is... I'm not particular. For first thoughts, I was playing with the thought that Ozpin stumbles into an affair with Jaune in which Jaune assumes he's being blackmailed for sex, and Ozpin felt trapped, and so both of them went along with what neither of them wanted. Now... well, there's a role for it, since Ozpin thinks 'I already did it once, might as well do it again,' but I agree it's iffy. It's more of a macguffin- it's more important that Ozpin force Jaune into something damaging and incriminating, than what he does.

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Special Note:

College Fool here, with a quick explanation.

We're currently in a lopsided catchup state with our backfill. Coeur was/has been busy, and I had a rare case of lots of time to do a lot of fills. Coeur's working his end when he has time, but I'll be trying to burn off the excess on my end. Let's get those embarassing bad fills of mine out of the way, hm?

Next week we'll be trying something new- our first real 'Theme Week'. Next week's theme is 'Ren'- Coeur's written a number of interesting fills, so look forward to it.


	20. Appreciation Day

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Appreciation Day: Jaune just wanted to be a good friend, a better leader, and not take the tireless and cheerful supporter on his team for granted. When he asks Team RWBY for advice on what to do, misunderstandings ensue when they think he means Pyrrha.

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Coeur's Fill: Appreciation Day

Thoughts: Eh, looks like a clear humour one to me... maybe I should subvert it? That might end up too tragic however... Alright, fine. Let's go with humour.

Title: Appreciation Day  
Summary: She had done so much for him, picked him up when he was low - always been there, always believed in him. Well it was time to repay that belief, and show her just how much she meant to him! With a little help from team RWBY of course.  
Characters: Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora

Intro:

The story literally begins with Ruby squealing happily, waking up her entire team and drawing their attention to the conversation she was having with Jaune. Jaune promptly slaps his forehead and thanks her for keeping the conversation "secret" as he requested. Yang demands answers, Weiss demands compensation for being woken up - which can be paid in answers. And Blake simply stares at him languidly.

Jaune spins a poor story about a hypothetical friend who wants to do something special to thank one of their hypothetical friends who has always been supporting them. And who may or may not (but I'm not saying she is) be a girl. And said hypothetical friend doesn't know what to get this girl (who could be a guy, just saying) as a gift.

And thought that since RWBY is a team with four people who may or may not share the same gender (why are you cracking your knuckles Yang?) - Jaune needs advice.

Not for himself obviously... for his hypo-

"Oh for God's sake we get it!" Weiss snaps.

The girls say they need a moment to confer, wherein they quickly huddle in a corner.

"Pyrrha?" Ruby asks.  
"P-money." Yang nods.  
"Pyrhha." Weiss confirms.  
"... I wasn't aware I needed to answer that." Blake reads.

The huddle breaks as the girls all grin widely, and Ruby explains that the Council of Team RWBY has declared they will aid him (I didn't say it was me!) in his quest.

Equipping the Hero:

Weiss calls in some favours to take Jaune shopping, with the others close by. Weiss and Yang discuss fashion and argue, before agreeing on a selection of clothes that he is forced into.

Jaune asks why clothes are so important, only to have a frustrated Yang explain that fashion makes the man - and that if he wants to impress her, he needs to dress the part. Jaune asks what impressing someone has to do with showing your appreciation to them for all their help.

"It shows you're serious vomit-boy! That it's not just a small thing, trust me on this."

Ruby runs off and comes back with some better pyjamas for Jaune - saying if things go well, he might need them. Weiss blushes, though Yang drags Ruby into a hug and says she's taught her well.

Jaune is still confused, and it's Blake who come's to his rescue, basically listing off all the reasons jaune has to love this woman, almost twisting his thoughts to show him that appreciation might actually be romantic interest.

"You smile when she's around?" "Well, yeah of course." "Do you feel better when she enters the room." "Instantly." "Does she help you with your faults." "She always tries yeah, sometimes I'm too proud to let her though."

Until eventually Blake lays out all the evidence and Jaune has an epiphany, and realises he does love her.

Yang cheers, throwing an arm around his shoulder and teasing him on his feelings for redheads. Jaune blushes and says he always did like brightly coloured hair - and redheads are cute.

Yang high fives Ruby, while Blake just nods, satisfied to have done her job.

The Obligatory Training Trip

Now that they have convinced Jaune it's romance he feels, it's time to make sure he can succeed. Pyrrha is totally into him, but still - she is so shy that if he makes his approach even the slightest bit ambiguous, she will panic. Yang tells Jaune to ask her out, so she can see his lines.

"Hey there, can't help but think you and I would look good together."

Yang immediately walks over to Weiss and hugs her. "I'm sorry I ever doubted your reasons for wanting to kill him."

"It's okay - sometimes it's hard for myself to even believe."

Jaune deflates, while Ruby tries to cheer him up - though when he asks if it was really that bad, even she refuses to meet his eyes.

Instead they train him on how to talk and how to act. Weiss uses the training she received in public speaking, Yang spars with him - and basically beats him up until he gets angry - forces him to break through his shell. Blake forces him to read Ninjas of Love out loud to her in a sexy voice - "If you can't even read something like this, how will you say things to entice her?"

Ruby just eats cookies with him.

The Final Battle

The time is here, and Jaune is prepared. Each member of Team RWBY hugs him, wishing their student well and imparting their final pieces of wisdom. Blake's is ninja-related. Jaune is in manly tears as he leaves, and Yang sniffs - commenting that they grow up so fast. Ruby gives him some roses that she semblanced up.

"Wait, they're real?"

"I guess? Semblances don't make much sense..."

Jaune accepts them and moves off, prepared to conquer the final hurdle and win his redheaded champion's love.

Team RWBY spies on him (naturally) watching as he approaches his team who are relaxing after some training. For a moment Jaune pauses and looks like he might not do it, but Yang cracks her knuckles loudly - and Jaune, not even knowing where it came from - flinches and makes his move.

"You've always been there for me. Supported me, helped me when I was down and never given up on me." Jaune shouts nervously, completely faffing Weiss' lessons. "I never realised how much you meant to me, but now I do!"

"I-... I love you Nora!" He kneels and gives her the roses, even as Weiss chokes in the bushes. "Y-you are my one. The tanto to my wakizashi, my safety in shadow. L-let us join as one and consummate our love in darkness."

Everyone turns to Blake, who has a star-struck expression on her face.

"Hmmm... okay." Nora giggles, picking him up bridal stlye and running off.

"What... the f***!?" Yang manages.

Honestly I'd just end it there probably, it's a short one - no need to keep it going.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Here I was trying to give Coeur the set-up for a deep, dramatic Nora-Jaune ship... and he settled for a comedy short. Lol.

As a comedy piece built around Team RWBY's reactions/preparations, it's plenty good. Ruby's moments- from her initial squeal to her part of the training montage- were my favorite. As an actual romance story... well, it's not really fair to criticize this for not being something it wasn't trying to be. I will note that the advice/training that RWBY gives Jaune doesn't really have much to do to make him appeal to Pyrrha specifically. Worth considering for anyone who tries to adapt this.

I just don't have too much to say- I mean, it's already half written as-is. Which actually would make this a very feasible piece for any readers to adapt- if you wanted to write any story from this collection, this is the one for beginners to cut their teeth on.

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Coeur's Reflection:

A lot of comedy is based on the idea of misconception and that's what I went with here, with one of the big tells being the term "redhead" - now for anyone who saw the prompt first of course you know it's comedy and not going to be Pyrrha, but I'd try to keep it Pyrrha in the actual piece.

I think it was okay - short, but not unreasonably so, there really isn't much to say about ere's definite room for improvement, but as a rather short comedy - likely only 5-6 chapters, it works. I perhaps could have gone for something much longer, with jealousy and drama abound, as the unusual couple fights not only to protect their relationship, but prove it exists.

But meh - I went with comedy.


	21. Jaune the Bullhead Pilot

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - Jaune isn't a hunter-in-training. He's a Bullhead pilot.

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Initial Thoughts:

'An easy one' you say. 'Meh' you say. 'I could do this with ease,' you all but say.

Then why can't I actually come up with anything? It's embarrassing- every time I've tried, I get stuck on one of two paths- a Beacon-period equivalent in which Jaune is Ruby's civilian friend from pilot rides, or something even less defined in the future.

God damn it, it's a character role, not a plot! [grumblegrumblegrumble]

Sigh. Just to get this over with. 'Official' response starts now. Time limit is screwed.

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College Fool's Fill: A Friend in Every Port

A frequent-encounters series of the many encounters of Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose.

Jaune's parents make a deal with him at a young age- if he can master his airsickness, they'll train him to be a hunter. They send him to a vocational flight school, sort of a 'piloting program for children' in the same way that the combat academies train Hunters. Jaune does manage to overcome his motion sickness- when he's the one flying, manually and without autopilot. It's unconventional, and brings worries since he doesn't rely on the safety features, but Jaune turns out to be good and promising as a pilot. With a sense for tracking the air movements in his mind, and having a good predictive sense, Jaune's piloting becomes smooth enough that most people don't realize he's not auto-piloting. Between something he's good at and makes him feel better (piloting and resolving motion sickness) and something he's bad at and doesn't (his initial efforts to train), Jaune sticks to piloting.

That's backstory. The main story is more of the frequent encounters between Jaune and Ruby, and the friendship between pilot, passenger, and gradual friend.

Their first encounter is well before Beacon- when Jaune was the trainee co-pilot who was flying the passenger liner that brought Ruby from the island of Patch to Signal Academy. Jaune bends rules to let a curious Ruby stay in the cabin, where Ruby has the childish fascination of the flight. They talk dreams and ambitions- and this is a period where Jaune is dealing with giving up his Hunter dream to stick to flying- but Ruby encourages him to take his new career and make it his dream. Ruby's interest in how he flies, and the appreciation for seeing the scenery and wilderness where no one lives and no one but hunters and pilots ever see, kindles a bit of hope and optimism in Jaune. Ruby's the one who brings up the Bullheads that take Hunters out on missions, and Jaune's dream of being the Hunter on that Bullhead evolves into being the pilot to not only take Hunters out, but bring them back home. Jaune and Ruby declare their dreams in a youthful optimism, and promise to meet again some day- with Ruby the Huntress, and Jaune the pilot.

Time-skip several years to the start of canon, and the airship to Beacon. It's remarkably unremarkable- or rather, the remarks are at how smooth the flight is, and how the normal jarring of landing with auto-pilot systems doesn't occur. Ruby and Yang comment on this, go out, the usual happens. Ruby blows herself up- and Jaune in the piloting uniform helps her up. Recognizing her by the cape, even though she doesn't recognize him, Jaune re-introduces himself as the pilot of the airship. It's not a long conversation- Jaune is stealing some time while the ship is being resupplied- but it's enough to give Ruby some encouragement after her bad start. They both recall their vows, and how they're still working towards them- Jaune is finishing his last airship flight before transitioning to Beacon's bullhead pilot corps for training. Promising to see her around, Jaune leaves, but Ruby's optimistic that there will be someone else she knows at Beacon. Yang notes her good cheer despite Ruby not coming in with anyone, and canon resumes.

Come the end of initiation, Ruby is called into the cockpit of the Bullhead which comes to pick up RWBY and JNPR. The pilot is of course Jaune, who offers his congratulations (and thanks) for taking down the Nevermore, which had been a threat to the Bullheads meant to evacuate students. Ruby sticks in the cabin for the flight back to rest and watch, Yang comes in to check on her, and this is how Jaune meets Team RWBY- who, as time roles on, consider him 'their' pilot.

The general phase of things is that Jaune is an employee of Beacon as a pilot of the Beacon airship fleet. Though he doesn't spend much time with the students- employees have their own cafeterria below ground and near the airship hangers, which are off-limits- he regularly crosses paths with Ruby and team, especially as one of the ferry-fliers for the regular weekend flights between Vale and Beacon. Ruby makes a habit of popping into the cabin of whatever airship she gets into, and when it's Jaune he let's her sit and watch. Same goes with training flights.

There's no real script or plot for this- though there is opportunity for fleshing out the world of a combat school. The non-Hunter Beacon employees are kept out of sight, out of mind for the students. In fact, contact is actively discouraged- for the safety of both sides. There's concern that the employees could interfere with the studies and training of the students, or serve as smugglers to bring banned substances to school... but there's also the prospect of empowered students bullying the far, far weaker service and support personnel. Ruby and Jaune's friendship, while not banned, is discouraged by Beacon staff- including Glenda, who warns Ruby that there are dangers in the ties between Huntresses and civilians.

But the friendship continues to grow in their cabin rides. Jaune is Ruby's non-RWBY friend, and when she needs space or to vent about her team- or just to struggle with her responsibility as a team leader- Jaune's her confidant. Jaune also does a good turn for her every once in a while- sneaking in a 'training flight' to Signal when she's a bit home-sick for her Uncle, and basically serving as Team RWBY's unofficial pilot whenever any of them want to head to Vale.

Their flights- in which Ruby sits in the cockpit as the two of them chat while Jaune flies- become so frequent as to be regular, with Ruby sometimes going to Vale on the weekends just to sit and chat with Jaune. It's so regular that it actually breaks Glenda's restrictions- rather than waste resources on flights that Ruby is entitled to as a student, where Ruby is the only passenger who just spends the time talking to Jaune, Glenda gives permission for them to socialize on campus. It's justified as an extension of Jaune's training program- as a Bullhead pilot for Hunters he'll need to study Grimm eventually, and Beacon's a great place to learn it- so what do you know, Jaune becomes a part-time student at Beacon with access to the campus.

'Jaune the student' is a happy change for Ruby. Jaune's a student in her academics, and (avoiding the flirt phase with Weiss) more or less hits off with the rest of RWBY, who he eats meals with. His novelty status attracts the interest/curiosity of JNPR, which brings them to the table and helps for new friends. Ruby's happy, and even happy to show off when Jaune gets the chance to watch sparring matches.

But it also comes with costs- which become apparent via Cardin. The specter of students bullying employees is there- all the more so because Jaune is openly 'the weakling,' and isn't hiding in the off-limits areas anymore. Nor is Glenda in a position or mood to interevene when the issue is raised- this is why the prohibition exists in the first place, and Jaune is here of his own volition.

Ruby takes more of a stand for Cardin bullying a non-Hunter civilian, but her defense of Jaune is not only a bit humiliating for Jaune in that it offers up more avenues for Cardin's bullying- grown guy, so weak he has to be defended by little girl- but also puts the 'Huntress vs. normal' divide between them, which hadn't existed before. As Cardin's bullying intensifies, Jaune begins to withdraw back to the employee off-limit areas, spending less time with Ruby as well- and though he claims it's for flight training and other things, it's obvious he's avoiding. When Ruby takes her team's advice and tries to confront Jaune about it, she fumbles the effort and it turns into a Huntress and helpless civilian fight. Jaune, angry and hurt to be dismissed as 'weak' in that way, angrily leaves. Ruby, feeling hurt herself that her concern was rejected, takes an attitude of 'fine' and sulks as well. Jaune begins to skip the classes, and his grades are sure to drop.

Jaune and Ruby's fight is a period of no-talking, even during the airship rides, which drives in how close they'd actually become. While Goodwitch adopts a 'I told you so' perspective, of how Huntresses can rarely make and keep friends of normal people, it comes off as more pitying and lamentable than before. All the same, if Jaune continues to skip, he'll be failed and lose his spot on the bullhead program.  
Yang, who's a bit more used to dealing with normal people than Ruby, spots wounded pride for what it is and during the Forever Falls sap-gathering mission she pulls Ruby aside. Chiding Ruby for being careless, Yang makes a case for distinguishing between 'strong' people and 'powerful'- and not confusing lacking power for being weak. Ruby wants to make up even if she doesn't quite get it, but is nervous and unsure if Jaune wants to. She even wishes that she could conveniently save Jaune from something like a Grimm attack to help break the ice- a fantasy that, in her mind, goes a bit beyond just restoring their friendship.

Ice gets broken when a murder of Nevermore makes a Bullhead go down on the return-trip. Expectations are broken when it's not Jaune's bullhead, but Ruby's own, leaving Team RWBY and Glenda stranded in the wilderness at night. Glenda is hurt protecting everyone aboard, and the girls are left to manage the perimeter despite assured Grimm attacks. While Glenda assures the girls that Ozpin will send a deliberate recovery force once it's safe to fly in the morning- one that can fight off the Nevermore- it's clear that surviving until then is in doubt. The pilot knows that he's the weak link- that the huntresses could easily survive if they left him behind- and offers to take his own life, since that's what every bullhead pilot has to be willing to do when flying over the Grimm lands if they don't want to be eaten by Grimm. While Ruby is as vehement as the rest in rejecting the pilot's sacrifice, the fact that she could see Jaune doing it as well makes her empathize with Jaune's view of their fight, and makes her regret her wish-fantasy of saving Jaune from a crash scenario.

The Grimm attack begins, and while the Huntresses hold out their ammo runs out too soon. Things become a touch desperate- until a lone Bullhead approaches, pulling a perfect hover in a clearing that most wouldn't dare to try and land at night. The girls, Glenda, and the downed pilot all get aboard, fighting Grimm all the while, before the Bullhead pulls away.

The pilot is Jaune, of course- doing a hasty evac from Grimm territory with only questionable authorization from Beacon. It's a rescue that borders on reckless, especially since Jaune isn't certified on the Bullhead officially. Ruby echoes Glenda's anger at first- Jaune put himself at risk trying to save them, and could have gone down and needed rescuing himself- but when she confronts him in the cabin after Glenda agrees to let it rest until Beacon, Jaune replies so what? Ruby would have gone in for Jaune if he needed rescuing. And Jaune came for Ruby when she needed help. They both would have put themselves in danger to help others- and they both were at risk, powers or no powers. And while she was scared then- and even more scared when she thought Jaune's bullhead might go down and then realized it was him inside- she realizes it must have been a mutual concern.

Understanding what Yang said, about the difference and power, Ruby apologizes- and gets an apology in return. Talking once more, they reflect on the night- and how it was exactly what they wanted to do with their lives. For a night, Ruby was a real Huntress- fighting to protect the weak and injured from Grimm. And Jaune- he might not have been involved in the fight, but he helped save people, and fulfilled his dream. Even if he's grounded- even if he never flies again- he helped save six lives, including the life of someone very important to him. And if he's not- then doing this, flying to the rescue of Hunters and Huntresses- is exactly what he wants to do with his life.

Flying back to Beacon- and the consequences that await him and the struggle of catching bac up on school work– Ruby promises to help Jaune catch up on the missed work, thanks Jaune for flying her all this time. A bit nervous, she asks him to keep doing so in the future. Jaune makes a promise that he'll take her wherever she wants, whenever she wants- and the two become rather embarrassed at the jeers (and cheers) of Ruby's team who are glad the two have made back up, even as Weiss winds up a rant about impropriety and chastity.

End

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Coeur's Impression:

Jaune as a Bullhead Pilot

Wow, I'm surprised this caused problems for CF - maybe it's just him struggling with the job description, I mean this is the guy who destroys every Bullhead he comes across in a story. So how can people even become Bullhead Pilots - it's like looking for a career as an electric-chair tester.

:D

(Probably ironic since in One Good Turn I think there has been how many destroyed Bullheads now?)

I did like the angle as Jaune being someone Ruby can vent to, someone unrelated and away from all the madness of the usual stuff.

Part of me would also have liked to see it kept as that, rather than Jaune becoming a temporary student. In that way there could have been some conflict between Weiss not respecting him as a good friend for Ruby - "Really, he's nothing more than a pilot." And Yang also not really liking the idea of him getting close to her little sister, perhaps for less cruel reasons - "A pilot is a dangerous job, Ruby fell apart when she lost Summer - let's not have this happen again."

There could even be an arc where Yang explains all that to Jaune, and he tries to distance himself to protect Ruby - which only hurts her further, before later on their relationship is fixed.

I did laugh at this bit: Expectations are broken when it's not Jaune's bullhead, but Ruby's own - yeah, I expect those "expectations" were meant as MINE lol.

Part of me would also have liked to see Jaune (who still can't hunter fight at this point) as the one to suggest suicide when stranded. It's such a small thing in this summary but fits so well. To those who haven't noticed - Remnant is a rough-a** place! Hell, Atlas is pretty much a military dictatorship by the look of things (look at their school uniforms) - all white and grey (in a lore-based world where there are sodding LAWS about colours).

So you could expect that lowly soldiers might be trained to take their own lives in the event of Grimm. For them survival is literally a 0% chance, and death by some kind of pill would be a lot easier for them. Ruby's shock and horror of hearing that from her friend would be delicious to me. And perhaps even the shock Weiss sees at watching someone she didn't respect make such a decision as that - before of course Ruby slaps it from his hand and stamps it into the ground.

I might also have written their desperate attempt to get back to civilisation as the main plot point - spanning the last 30-35% of the fic.

But for a prompt that apparently firmly threw CF for a loop - so far that it wasn't even within the 15 minutes? I think he did a good job.

And hell - at least this wasn't some kind of Bullheadpocalypse.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

I knew that I'd have to get revenge on Coeur for this prompt, because it really, really didn't come together. Even my 'large' stories, like Prism or Bastard, tend to come together planning-wise in fifteen minutes. This took hours just to compose the general idea, and I'm still not satisfied. Part of it was fixating on the backstory change- but the other part was I didn't know what I wanted Jaune to do. Be involved in the core RWBY plot? Be a casual acquaintance outside of it? Be an observer only?

Coeur makes some good points, and honestly I think I should have gone with 'Juane gets shot down.' I was trying to defy expectations there, because- well, it seemed so _obvious._ And I wanted to hit a point about Ruby having a heroism fantasy- _wanting_ someone to be endangered so that she could save the day (and easily resolve her problems). But sometimes obvious choices are still the stronger choices. I really didn't need to give up Jaune for that point- even if the 'wow, I just wished that on a stranger' was it's own sort of punch. Jaune coping with the the threat in his own way rather than being the damsel to be rescued- and being prepared, even eager, to commit suicide rather than the alternative- could have driven the point home to Ruby just as well. That he wasn't waiting to be rescued by her (and that's an even worse thing than the reader would think).

But honestly, I think the worst part of this story was that I didn't commit to Lancaster. This is a story where it probably could have done well- but toying with it (Ruby's fantasies) without driving to it probably left it weaker than it needed to be. I liked the idea of 'Jaune the partial student' more than Coeur did, but Coeur's points about the friends disliking Jaune the civilian would have played well with Glynda as the obstructive authority figure to the 'forbidden' relationship.

One of these days, I'm going to do a full-up 'huntress/civilian Jaune' ship. The power dynamic is a great theme/friction device, and I've wanted to play a Lancaster 'straight' rather than what happened with 'An Affair.' (Though, knowing Coeur, he'll give me the power dynamic but push someone other than Ruby. Yang, perhaps?)


	22. Stockholm Syndrome

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Neo was a thief. A robber. Took things that weren't hers. But she'd never been asked to steal the scion of a heroic bloodline before.

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Initial Thoughts: Eeeeeee! Neo, my waifu. For a character I love more than any other, it's odd that I only really have one fic that prominently features her - even if she has gone on to inspire fanart and a lot of love from the readers!

Title: Stockholm Syndrome  
Standfirst: Stealing things was easy, especially with a semblance like hers. Stealing people ought to have been just as easy, especially when the one she was kidnapping was little more than an entitled teen with no combat experience.

Let's romance the crap out of this, because nothing is sexier than kidnapping... Please don't use my words as defence in a court of law when your valentine's date goes wrong.

Beat 1 - Why the Protagonist Needs Romance - Establishing the Status Quo

Neo is a mute thief in the slums of Vale, a city of progress and a bastion of safety against the Grimm, or so the newspapers keep telling them. In reality the middle class up live well, and the poor suffer. Neo is poorer than poor, owing money to her landlord - Roman, a few criminal gangs and the hospital that found and saved her when she was laying in an alleyway with a slit throat.

Neo is miserable yet consigned. This chapter would have her going about a typical day seeming bored and completely lost - just "going through the motions" as it were, doing what she needs to do to survive, but otherwise not feeling alive.

She gets a call from Junior about a job - and knowing rent is due she shows up at the club. Roman is there as her contact, who gives her a job to kidnap the scion of a heroic family of old.

Neo is initially against the idea, for one kidnapping is a far-cry about what she normally does, and two - heroic family? That sounds dangerous... However Roman manages to win her over with the reward, and negotiating that kidnapping is just stealing with a different name, and that the kid will just be ransomed back easily enough. Not even all the bad for him.

Neo is uncertain, and thinks that she doesn't want to be that cruel - but swallows her pride and takes the first 50% of the cash, sealing her fate.

Beat 2 - The Meeting - A Connection is Formed, for better or Worse

Neo breaks into the Arc family home, sneaks a little, maybe fights a little - ultimately finds and kidnaps Jaune Arc, knocking him out and whisking him away before his father Nicholas can skewer her on Crocea Mors.

Neo arrives back at her apartment and safehouse, injured and bleeding with an unconscious teen. Frustrated and full of adrenaline she kicks him angrily, though he doesn't wake. She takes some cordage and ties him to a radiator in her bedroom (remember kids, radiators off when keeping hostages).

Jaune Switch poV - Jaune wakes confused and scared, also sore. He can't move and slowly comes to realise his situation.

There is some small interaction between them, though Neo's inability to speak makes it hard. Jaune is terrified and wants to go home, Neo wants him to shut up as she doesn't want to see or hear him in pain, as it just drives home how far she's fallen. She is needlessly cruel to him in an effort to both shut him up - and kill her heart.

Jaune falls asleep sobbing, and Neo drifts away with tears of her own, cradling her blanket.

Beat 3 - Conflict between the characters - major conflict point 1

Neo wakes up to find that Jaune's disappearance is all over the news, and the police are out in force. To make matters worse Roman can't accept him until the heat has died down - and says his client will arrive in four days to pick him up. She has to keep him hidden until that time, and just as importantly - alive and well.

Frustrated she makes some food for him, though he refuses to eat it. Not willing to release his hands she tries to hand feed him, only for Jaune to spit it back in her face. This arc would focus on their both getting used to the difficult situation, with jaune being initially defiant, before slowly becoming more compliant - but broken. Quieter, glummer.

Meanwhile Neo would be initially cruel and guilty in equal measure, before slowly becoming more concerned and worried. She reflects that he is like a plant, wilting from lack of sunlight and giving up on life. She has killed, but never an innocent - just other criminals and always in self-defence. She doesn't want to kill him either, and tries to improve his mood, feeding him and even getting entertainment for him.

By the time the Arc ends they are on talking terms, though with Neo that is mostly her using gestures. When Roman calls to say the exchange is going to take place, Neo finds herself less pleased than she thought she would be, having somehow enjoyed her apartment not being so lonely.

Beat 3 usually has to cover the romance happening - and typically it is attraction. For a darker romance like this however, becoming attracted too quickly might feel ridiculous. So instead I've gone with "attachment" - in that they both kinda appreciate the other's presence, though neither quite realizes why or how.

Beat 4 - Raising the Stakes, in which both emotions - and tension, rises.

The lead up to the handover, with the looming deadline of an end to their time together. Jaune is scared again, wanting to know what they have planned for him - and it pains Neo to admit she doesn't know. And she wants to know the answer too. She has become more attached to him, almost considering him a friend that she wants to keep around.

Maybe even some scenes where she teases him a little, walking out the shower in a towel and subtly enjoying his reaction to her. In a very real sense she feels more alive, and knows it is from him. While she is cynical and broken, he is still bright and exciting - everything she is missing.

Neo tries to distract him and cheer Jaune up from how worried he is - a subtle show of how their relationship has developed. Jaune by this point is no longer tied up, though the door is always locked. Have some casual scenes, more police shenanigans - maybe even one where police knock on the door and try to inspect, and Neo threatens him to stay in the cupboard.

And despite knowing he could shout out, he doesn't. He isn't sure why he doesn't, but just finds that he can't - and before he can think more on it they leave. Neo rewards him and is pleased with him, not sex you dirty readers. I mean rewards with attention, etc... I almost want a stockholm syndrome kind of thing.

Towards the end of the arc though, before 5 starts - he tries to run away, knowing his deadline is the next day, and uncertain over his fate. While she is having a shower he beats his hands bloody smashing her window and trying to escape.

Neo leaps through the window and chases him down, he didn't get far - barely off the fire escape. She teleports him back to the room and he is terrified and apologetic, begging her forgiveness but in floods of tears at his uncertain fate. (seems OoC at this point, there would be some lead up to this, to show his terror mounting). Jaune expects Neo to beat him, or punish him for running - but is instead surprised when she treats his injuries kindly.

Neo tries to calm him down, but he explains all his fears to her - his lack of training, wanting to be a hero, etc... feeling that he disappointed his father. The fear that he will never see his family again. Neo listens to it all, drawing him over to the bed where they lay down. Jaune slowly becomes tired from his outburst and fear, and falls asleep as she strokes his hair - before he is out she leans in and kisses him lightly on the lips.

Beat 5 - Conflict Point 2 - the relationship is stressed and/or it works but is lacking.

It is the handover, the two arrive at the location and Jaune is shaking badly. Neo leans in and kisses him once more, trying to impart some confidence in him. He seems to calm down, smiling at her and saying "I guess this is goodbye then?"

The handover meeting occurs, it is revealed to be Cinder (and no one was surprised). They talk a bit, Jaune tries to speak but Cinder slaps him - and Mercury puts a foot on his back as he pushed him down. Neo instinctively knocks Mercury back, prompting some tension. But Roman waves it off as Neo getting used to keeping him alive.

Cinder says that won't be necessary anymore, as she will look after him. He is dragged away, keeping his eyes locked onto hers as she does him. He leaves her sight however, eyes mixed with emotions she barely recognises.

Roman gives her the rest of the money, which she takes before teleporting back home.

Neo arrives at her apartment with the money, staring at it and trying to allocate it to various bills. She feels burning in her eyes however, and doesn't realise what it is - but angrily draws her weapon and cuts the desk and money to splinters. She collapses in tears - with a short recollection that she doesn't know what they are - or why they come from her eyes. But she doesn't like them, or how much her chest hurts.

She goes to bed, in which she can still smell him. She snuggles into his scent as she sleeps.

Time skip a little in a following chapter. Neo is back to how she was in chapter one, apathetic, cold and lifeless - as she goes about her normal tasks. The Landlord demands money from her - before backing down at seeing her lifeless gaze, he goes so far as to surrender and offer her a free month. She makes no motion to kill him, but her entire lack of anything terrifies him.

Neo slumps back on the couch. Taking a spoonful of ice-cream before spitting it out as tasting too sweet. She feels bitter.

She turns on television and sees reports about Jaune's disappearance - still ongoing, and a plea from his father, even a tearful one from his mother. She throws the remote at the tv, but can't even muster the energy to smash it. Something like:

"She threw the remote at the screen, a silent snarl on her features as that cursed burning attacked her eyes once more. The cheap plastic bounded off the screen impotently, unsatisfactorily dropping to the floor. She wanted to stand up, beat the piece of machinery into submission, but instead collapsed back into her seat with an exhausted sigh. Even that felt beyond her."

Basically just to show how lost she feels.

The arc takes a turn however when she sees a news report from Cinder - a hostage one in which she demands something from the Council. I don't know, cash, etc - whatever. Either way she says she will kill him if they do not comply.

Neo freezes, her blood turning to ice at the words. She watches as news reports bluster by on other things - things she cares nothing for. Tries to contact Roman, but he simply texts back to leave it be, it's out of her hands now. What the buyer does with the stolen goods isn't their concern.

She stresses, but thinks that his mother and father will get compliance surely.

Beat 6 - The Black Moment, when all seems lost

They do not get compliance. The Council either won't - or can't accept, and say although it is a tragedy, they do not deal with terrorists. Neo watches the news report in shock, this time throwing the remote with so much force it causes the TV to explode. She strides about her apartment in a rage, smashing things - tearing curtains down. She even stabs her bed where his scent is, over an over until nothing is left. Until she collapses by it, desperately trying to find any of his scent remaining - but she cannot.

She realises she has to do something, and teleports to Roman - who is displeased at her entrance and tells her so. Neo disarms and threatens to kill him - until he reveals where Cinder is. She knocks him out and teleports there.

There is a huge battle, with the usual stuff. Neo is a psycho and pretty much BUTCHERS Emerald and Mercury, before Cinder threatens to kill Jaune. The ensuing chaos has alerted the authorities and hunters - who surround the building. Cinder realizes she is ruined whatever happens.

In a fury she runs Jaune through.

Jaune slumps to the floor, shocked eyes meeting Neo's though he tries to whisper something to him, he cannot due to the blood. Neo's mind breaks at the image as she throws down her weapon and rushes to catch him as he falls to the floor. She holds him as he slowly dies - not even noticing Cinder attack her from behind.

Cinder's blade is stopped at the last moment, the clanging of steel - but Neo doesn't hear any of it. Just laying Jaune and down and cuddling up to the side of him. Some scene here where she closes her eyes with her head on his chest, smelling his scent even as he is dying.

"I will protect you. If by your passing we will be together then so be it, through this I will stay by your side for all eternity. Unbound by distance, laws or death our souls will stay together. I will protect thee."

She feels tired as she rests her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it slows - until all she hears is silence.

Beat 7 - Resolution - where love wins over all... or tragedy strikes.

A news report! Because nothing builds suspense and p*** everyone off after a cliff hanger like one of these! Nothing is revealed as to their fate, it's just Lisa Lavender talking about Cinder and her activities, and how she was killed in the action by famous hunter Nicholas Arc, who has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Hunter Authorities. Lisa mentions great losses and a tragic night for the city of Vale, just to build up dem feels.

Then the story ends.

Honestly it could end there, as an open-ended, who knows!? But I guess I will complete it just for structure's sake. A tragedy would and should end there.

I would add a final chapter on (an epilogue, so people genuinely think I ended it at that tragedy) - wherein Nicholas and his wife Juniper are talking. She is furious, saying it isn't safe and how she doesn't like it. Nicholas meanwhile is trying to explain that there's little they can do about it, etc... it's not his first choice either - but he doesn't think it will go badly.

The scene pans as they look at the scene. Jaune asleep in a hospital bed in a gown, with a heart monitor beeping strongly. And curled up next to him under the covers a pink-haired girl.

The two argue some more, with Nicholas saying if it wasn't for her Jaune would be dead, and it was only thanks to her somehow unlocking his aura that he lived. The two watch as Jaune wraps an arm around her in his sleep - and she digs deeper into his side.

She asks if the girl will go to prison, and Nicholas says the Council owes him - she won't if he asks for clemency. They want to avoid a PR disaster after condemning a child to death. Juniper bites her lip, watching the son she nearly lost smile in his sleep as her hair tickles his nose.

"Maybe... she can stay then."

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C.F.'s Impression:

As soon as I saw the title, I knew this was going to be exceptional. Coeur trusts me to make tripe tropes good- and I trust Coeur to take serious things and play them with respect rather than trivialize them.

Stockholm Syndrome is a real thing, but it's actually a dynamic of what the victim feels towards the perpetrator. Here we see more of the inverse- the perpetrator obsessing over the victim. Jaune's got the syndrome, or could with more fleshing out, but Neo is the real POV focus. I'll be the first to raise the flag of 'this isn't healthy', for either Jaune or Neo- but it dysfunctional in an interesting way, with the possibility of healing towards the end. Calling it romantic would be misleading, but Jaune's fear/tension and Neo's guilt/interest are good dynamics for a bad coupling.

That said- this would probably be one of the most challenging prompts yet for anyone to try and write. To do it well, you'd need a good deal of familiarity with Stockhold Syndrome and captive/prisoner dynamics- otherwise you'd shove it together in unbelievable ways. Dealing with mental/social dynamics like this would be even harder than the prostitution angle of Yang and Jaune in Coeur's earlier fill.

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Coeur's Reflection:

This one was a little bit rushed and time ticked, so it's not as... complete as I would like, but is a strong basis nonetheless. There's some weakness in my mind when it comes to the transitional periods between Beat 3-4 and 4-5, what I would probably look to do there is have some crisis situations arise, big events that test them in a way to act as mini-climaxes.

Either way the basis is there, it's dark in many ways - both for the concept, and the way Neo initially acts to Jaune. Even to suggestions (ala the title) that what he is feeling might be nothing more than Stockholm syndrome - and I never answer that. It's meant to be a question mark on it, is there love real? Is it even love from Neo's PoV - I want her to be as inscrutable as always... she is very broken in this, and I wanted to suggest that. With how she initially tries to beat the guilt she feels out of him, to how she soon transitions to treating him like a favoured pet - until eventually it becomes an obsession.

Is it love? Who knows, perhaps the two will find out in time. But that's up to them.

I would just HAVE to have an omake btw with Nicholas.

"I don't know who you are, or why you have pink hair - but you've made a mistake. I have a very specific set of skills... I will find you..."

Since I liked CF's difficulty idea earlier - I would give this one a 7/10 - it's difficult indeed, because you're dealing with dark concepts of kidnapping, murder, psychological dependency and cruelty. Broken childhoods, etc... I am quite restrictive on scores though. 7/10 is quite high, as you will NEVER see a 10/10 for me on anything - as I always think there could be better. Always.


	23. Son of Satome

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt - They say that confidence makes the man, but for Jaune that was a little more literal - especially when your semblance is basically changing your strength to match your confidence. (i.e. he is weak when unconfident, strong when confident).

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C.F.'s Fill: Son of Satome

Summary: Jaune Arc was the son of a famous hero. He didn't inherit his father's world-class martial arts skills... or his gender-flipping curse… but he did inherit his dad's ridiculously powerful ego -driven semblance. That's kinda cool… so long as he can keep it up through his old man's luck, which he also inherited.

Meta: Comedy crossover of RWBY and Ranman ½. Jaune is the only son of the world (and multi-verse's) most famous martial artist- and like his father before him, he's trying to become a man amongst men.

Basically the classic 'improved OP Jaune' fic of the series at Beacon, with Jaune being the (far less impressive) only son of Ranma Satome, world-famous (and implicitly multi-verse famouse) martial artist. Since it's a retake, and not a new story, the overall plot's the same. I'll just hit the highlights.

The story starts as the typical 'improved OP Jaune', in which Jaune is (not so secretly) a badass from the start. Jaune goes by the mother's name Arc- because his father is the impossibly famous Ranma Satome, master martial artist of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Jaune's been trained since birth, and is capable of amazing feats- his stamina, his endurance, and strength amazing, even if his speed and skill are 'only' average. His boasts of swimming between continents and training with reclusive sages in the wilds are more than ridiculous bravado- they're actually true.

He's also nothing compared to his father. It'd be kind to say that Jaune's only weakness is agility, but that'd be understating it- Jaune's just plain slow and clumsy, even though his father is the fastest, most agile man alive. While Jaune is capable of speed and agility, doing so makes him airsick. While Jaune is well above average with his peers, compared to his father… even if his father's never said it, Jaune feels like the the unspoken disappointment, unfit to inherit the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts- not until he can find a fighting style he can excel at.

With his father's encouragement- 'Anything Goes' means anything goes- Jaune came to Beacon under a false identity in hopes of escaping his father's shadow and finding his own way as a man, swearing to his father to become an honorably and manly man.

Jaune's trump-card strength in which he can match his Father is his semblance: emotionally-enhanced aura that strengthens him on the basis of the strength of emotions of either confidence or depression. Either one can be released as an energy blast- the 'shishi kokodan', an angst-canon of weaponized… angst, and 'moko takabisha', a similar canon powered by confidence- or just cockiness.

With this semblance, Jaune is a wildly varying power. At his peak of confidence and cockiness, he's incredibly powerful- living up to his boasts. But if he stumbles or fails, he slows down and becomes clumsier… until he starts getting depressed, at which he becomes powerful on the other end of the spectrum, until he starts feeling good from his success, at which point he goes back towards normal.

With that explained… 15 mins just expired. Spent it all on the summary and looking up.

Ten mins overtime-

There's no real plot- just a 'remake' of the series with fitting in Ranma!Jaune at every opportunity. Everyone is a fangirl (or fanboy, in Ren's case) for Jaune's father. Jaune's trying to prove himself in his own right- while keeping his pride/honor as a martial artist. Ranma ½ gags and cameos abound- including a constant that everyone's mother used to have a crush on Ranma, and many of the girls have at one point or another.

In so much as there's a character arc, it's Jaune moving from relying on 'cockiness' for his semblance superpower- an unreliable and fragile ego- to a healthier, stronger 'true confidence.' With Pyrrha as a partner, Jaune slowly develops his own fighting style, with which he hopes to hold his own, but really his attitude change is a big powerup already.

Major arc gag- Jaune doesn't realize that Cardin is trying to bully him, and instead thinks Cardin is trying to help him train to be stronger. Cardin's bullying makes Jaune more depressed- and thus more powerful- because no matter how much he relies on the depression to beat Cardin, Jaune knows it's nothing compared to his father's strength. So Cardin suffers too at Jaune's hands- and is like 'why aren't you satisfied yet?' even as he keeps trying to take revenge and convince Jaune that Cardin isn't his friend.

Can't decide on the second-season arc: I'd replace the 'trying to woe Weiss' with… something. Unwanted engagements set up by his grandfather? The return of super-pervert Happosai?

Different Character Conceits:

Pyrrha: Still interested in Jaune- even more so because not only does he treat her like normal, but he gets her blood pumping (in spars). Comedy point: Jaune can't imagine dating Pyrrha- because she looks like his (cursed form, gender bent) dad. Jaune knows her feelings, and Pyrrha is resolved to overcome his hesitance- and is the one most likely to exploit any engagement opportunity.

Nora: Possibly the descendant of Ryoga- brute strength, physics-breaking sense of direction if it weren't for Ren. Unliked her father, gets along great with Jaune though. Comedy points: physics-breaking sense of direction, and the same sort of emotion power- though her aspect is 'cheer.' Like Jaune, if she ever got sad she'd be even more powerful- and Ren's solem duty as a martial artist (and love interest) is to keep that from ever happening.

Ren: Ranma fanboy, much to Jaune's embarassments. Thought he was a good martial artist… until Jaune's raw stats and experience let him keep up. Comedy point: Jaune is under the impression that Ren is an amazing martial artist, and wants to fight. Ren avoids it cooly while training like crazy- even the stupid stuff Jaune and Ranma have done- in order to catch up and not look lame in front of his idol's son.

RWBY

Ruby- first friend under his fake identity, and supports his efforts to escape his father's shadow. About the only girl he knows who's never crushed on his father- instead seeing him as a superhero, which they share. The only girl he actually thinks of in terms of 'cute'- in the potential love-interest way. The subject of Jaune's 'must be honorable man!' thoughts.

Weiss- 'Launce into orbit' girl. Jaune's bad luck- and unwanted accidents- get him in Weiss's rath more often than now, where she uses glyphs to launch him into orbit. He's tough enough to survive- and she's guilty enough to regret the accidents or genuine misunderstandings- and a sorta-tsundere dynamic follows. The one most likely to understand, and be willing to help, deal with any unwanted engagement contracts.

Blake- 'Abandoned student.' Blake hates the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts and has a grudge against the Satome's… because she was disciple and was abandoned by Genma (Ranma's father/Jaune's grandfather) and perved on by the Grandmaster, Happosai. She sought training as a ninja for revenge- and all those faunus rights things too. Jaune's dynamic is that he must redeem the name of his school, by his honor as a martial artist. Which includes standing up for faunus (which he does anyway)- and keeping her faunus identity a secret at all costs.

Yang- the 'flirty student'- an aspiring brawler, Yang wants to learn the ways of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Jaune is honor bound to teach her- and put up with her flirtatious teasing. She's heard all the stories of Ranma's… prowess. More seriously, she has a dark and secret agenda- the knowledge that Raven was one of Ranma's (many) unwanted admirers, and a belief that she abandoned the family to chase after him. Yang is somewhere between wanting to murder Jaune herself, and wanting Jaune herself- either working as revenge against Ranma. Only his bond with Ruby- and her own feelings- stays her hand.

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Coeur's Impression:  
Less a plot and more of an idea in this case. My semblance prompt was obviously based off Ranma - as CF correctly identified. There isn't too much to offer in regards to this as it's a very open-ended kind of plot. If the previous chapter from me was one that could be seen as beginner learnedly due to being very structured and laid out, this would be the opposite.

It's no more complicated, but is perhaps more beginner-friendly in its openess, there aren't many complicated emotional or cultural boundaries to cross. In comparison to say Prism (extreme cultural knowledge needed) or Prostitute Jaune (dangerous potential for a cocky writer to trvialise what is very complex relationship issues).

I would have liked more of a storyline with this, with a middle arc and an ending to go with what we have as an intro, but sometimes the time limit sticks - sometimes it doesn't. I recently just up and gave up on my first prompt from CF. So yeah, I fail too at times xD

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C.F.'s Reflection:

A flop of a fill. Kinda embarrassing, actually, since there was an idea- it just doesn't summarize well, and didn't have a unique plot. This was around a point where I tried to actually hit the 15-min mark with planing and writing like Coeur... and this was about par for course. Or even better. Sad, that.

A Ranma crossover was obvious to me- but I struggled with how to present it, since I didn't realize Coeur actually knew what Ranma was. This hits the difficulty of crossovers- they usually only work with an audience that knows both stories. Sometimes you find the exceptions- Coeur has a cool story about how he came to RWBY by crossovers, and one of my favorite series of all time is Kingdom Hearts, which is the ultimate Disney/Square Enix crossover- but I was afraid to over-commit to a Ranma crossover. Hence why it's really more of a classic story of 'living in the shadow of the far more amazing parent.' With Ranma theme.

Plot was hard, because I wasn't really wasn't sure what to do. In Ranma, the plot focuses on the arranged marriage of the title-character and his many (unwanted) fiances. It's an action/echi/comedy- and about as classic a harem scenario as you get. I could have gone with that, I suppose- you can see elements of it in the character rolls- but at the same time RWBY fandom has enough crappy Jaune harems. On the other hand, just sticking to the RWBY plot with a Ranma crossover filter gives... what you got. Except I didn't waste time describing a story you already knew.

I suppose I really should have just bitten the bullet and made it a story of 'Jaune's and the multiple fiances' sort of comedy-though with a heavy emphasis that none of the RWBY girls are actually interested in him for that.


	24. Ren: Broforce

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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Special Author's Note: Welcome to Theme Week!

This is something special we've mused about for awhile- a week of prompts built around a specific theme, to explore similar ideas from different angles and to hit on some lesser-trod paths. Coeur and I have prepared two theme weeks for your enjoyment- and depending on reception at the end of the weeks, we may see more. Thanks to the grouping of prompts around a theme, I have some hopes that we'll be able to get some ideal prompts, and give you all some fills that you'll be able to know was because of you.

This week's theme is 'Ren'- so look forward to seeing a lot more than usual of the must under-voiced member of Team JNPR. Thing of what sort of themes you might want in the future.

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College Fool's Prompt – The day that Ren joined Jaune's crusade to prove their masculinity was the day that Ren overheard Nora, Pyrrha, and Team RWBY refer to him as 'one of the girls.'

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Initial Thoughts: Has to be comedy really. Sure I could try and subvert it into something serious, but why try to ride a horse upside-down?

Title: Broforce  
Summary: Ren had always been comfortable with who he was, and how others saw him - or perhaps more accurately; how he thought others saw him. But just another one of the girls? That was not acceptable.  
Genre: Comedy

A series of chapters of Ren trying out different forms of machisma. Two chapters per Arc - an intro chap, and a comedy chap.

Intro Arc:

Ren is reading in his dormroom as the females of his team along with team RWBY comes bustling into the room. They hesitate upon seeing him, but quickly ignore him in favour of chatting among themselves. Ren tunes out most of their dialogue with practiced ease, especially once it turns into a breakdown of the boys of Beacon. He thinks to himself how it's somewhat pleasing they don't find themselves concerned with his presence, and rationalises that it's probably because he respects each of them - and they respect him in turn. Unlike other boys who simply stare at them slack-jawed and drooling.

That is until one of them brings up Ren as one of the boys to judge, something he finds himself a little egotistically listening to. But Yang's laughing words; "Ren? Aw... I don't think he's into women. Hell, he's practically one of the girls."

Those words shock him - and even worse as the others giggle but otherwise agree that he is an unofficial fellow woman to them. His eyes go wide and the book sits lifeless in his fingers as they laugh between themselves. Before he realises it the sun has set, and he is still sat there - with not a single page turned.

One of the girls...

That won't do.

Attempt No.1 Arc:

Ren's team awakes the next day to find that he is missing from the dorm - most of them are okay with it, though Nora is terrified. Ren doesn't wake up early - Hell, Ren WONT wake up at all if she isn't the one to do it. He would sleep until his death if he had the choice.

Team JNP asks team RWBY if they saw him, and Blake comments that she did see him earlier talking to someone on his scroll, it's enough to convince Nora he hasn't been kidnapped and they head down for breakfast. Brekkies is as lively an affair as ever until a figure arrives at the table. Yang's cutlery drops down onto her plate, as she stares open-mouthed at someone behind them. The others turn to see what it is.

"Hello ladies." Ren greets, wearing his trademark white trousers and green jacket - but little else, and with the jacket open and showing his abs. He's grinning massively and giving them the thumbs up before he turns to the monkey faunus next to him, giving him a high five.

Pyrrha makes to say something, only for Yang to reach across and stop her. "Shhh... I'm experiencing a moment."

The others are equal parts shocked and bemused, though Jaune treats him like it's perfectly normal. Even saying he looks a little different - did he get a haircut?

Nora however just laughs, dragging him away while saying silly Renny forgot his shirt. All the while Yang is crying for her to bring him back, she just wants to touch them a little!

Attempt No.2 intro -

Ren is stroking his chin in their dorm, thinking that he couldn't believe using Sun as a role model failed - sure he was never very successful in wooing Blake, but there was no way you could say he wasn't a MAN. He realises he needs new inspiration, his eyes drifting to Jaune - who is at that moment trying to pull on his trousers but trips over and gets tangled.

No... just no.

For inspiration he goes for a walk, bumping into Blake as he leaves his dorm. The two apologise, with Blake having been distracted reading her book. She walks on, even as Ren stands still in the hallway.

Attempt 2 -

Blake is sat in the library with her team playing board games again, she's a little more into it now - having promised to improve herself for the team. She rolls the dice however, and it falls off the table - she tries to catch it, falling off her chair until someone catches her.

"Hark fair maiden," the boy - no, MAN, dressed in tight black cloth speaks, standing up so that he is carrying her. Blake eeps as she is lifted up, before being righted on the floor. She takes a moment to look at the one who caught her, noticing semi-baggy dark blue trousers, and a navy-cloth top wound so tightly that she can see every muscle. A long grey scarf hangs around the figure's neck, trailing behind him - two swords strapped to his back. The figure gives her some corny line about petals falling and flowers blooming, and she blushes at how corny it is - but also that she recognises it from NoL. It's not until Ruby chokes out the name Ren, that she looks at his face.

The others act vaguely surprised and confused, but to Blake his outfit is the culmination of all her secret little desires and fetishes, and she can't help but act like a young girl with a crush around him. Even going so far as to stutter when he strokes her cheek and asks if she is okay.

Before Blake can answer though Nora appears, shouting that she didn't realise it was a dress-up day as she drags the ninja away. Blake stares after them, until Weiss coughs meaningfully and she turns back to see the other three girls giving her amused and suggestive expressions.

Arc 3 - Intro

Okay, the ninja angle didn't work - and also I'm running low on writing time, so from now it's summarising time.

Arc 3 - Intro -

Ren realises ninja didn't work, looks for new inspiration. He sees a news report about a spate of new crime and tilts his head.

Arc 3 -

Ruby is fighting Torchwick ala usual in the streets of Vale, it's going about as well as it always does - but there's more white fang than usual. The battle continues until a voice stops it.

Atop a nearby rooftop is a man in a tight spandex outfit, with a white scarf wrapped about his lower face. He leaps into the fray, helping Ruby dismantle the nearby White Fang as Torchwick flees. Ruby is a nervous wreck, having met her new official hero. She stammers and blushes and otherwise can't get any words out as Ren checks her over to make sure she is okay.

When Yang and the others catch up with them however he flees, even as Ruby suffers a meltdown and bleeds from her nose.

Arc 4 Intro

Ren comments on how the crime fighter plan didn't work, as no one could tell it was him - and he probably looked stupid anyway. He needs more ideas, but comments that the men he knows are all so unmanly. Cue a look at Jaune who is at that moment strangling himself trying to put a tie on. As Jaune falls to the floor gasping for breath, Ren nods his head.

That could work...

Arc 4 -

It's the day of the dance and people are milling around in the area. Weiss is lonely since Neptune stood her up and sighs in a corner with her drink. "Are you okay?" Ren asks as he approaches, and Weiss is about to complain to him (the only guy she thinks will listen) until she sees what he is wearing.

A pristine white suit, with a black shirt and red tie, his hair slicked back and top three buttons open, showing just a hint of neck and chest. She swallows suddenly, forgetting what she was talking about.

Instead Ren invites her to dance, and she finds herself agreeing as he takes her around the floor. Others seem to part way for them as they twirl across the floor. Weiss is starstruck and is about to say something when Ren vanishes, a confused Neptune dumped in his place as Nora whirls Ren away in a dance - so fast that she accidentally swings him off the dance floor and he crashes into the punch fountain, ruining his suit.

Ending Arc

Ren is dispirited, collapsing in his seat in the cafeteria as he accepts that he will never be popular with the ladies.

Yang immediately rushes to his side, cooing and asking if he is okay. He is about to answer when Weiss freezes her solid and takes her place, giving Ren a shoulder massage and saying if he feels down she knows of a good spa he can relax at.

Blake comments that they should read together to take his mind off things - while Ruby basically sits in his lap before going red before she can speak, stammering and passing out with her head thumping against his chest.

Nora growls angrily and makes to stand, even as Yang bursts from the ice and attacks Weiss. Plates and food fly as Ren's face slumps to the table.

Sigh... I'll never prove my masculinity and get a girlfriend at this rate.

Around him Velvet jumps in, screaming that she wants that a** - and even Cinder attacks as well.

Jaune sits next to Ren, placing an arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry man, I know what it's like. I guess girls just don't like guys like us. At least we've got each other, right?"

Meanwhile Pyrrha is smashing her head on the table, screaming about idiot men.

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C.F.'s Impression:

It's not Harem, it's HaRen. [/punoftheday]

Whenever you see a Jaune harem fanfic, it's good to take a step back and realize just how ridiculous the harem conceit is. Fics like these are perfect for doing that- the shallowness of attraction, the suddenness of attraction, and all that. HaRen fanfics don't take themselves seriously, which is one of two reasons I prefer them to the standard Jaune harem nonsense. (The other reason is that they're much rarer, and thus novel.)

There's an interesting sort of subversion/refusal to subvert that Coeur takes here. I was really, really hoping for a Jaune and Ren bro-fic of sorts- but Coeur thought that was too obvious. Meanwhile, the prompt was blatantly encouraging a comedy, and Coeur rode that horse rightside up. (Weird expression, but whatever.)

While I think the Jaune angle (or lack thereof) was a weakness, I do like the conceit of Ren being just as oblivious as Jaune- mostly because of Nora running interferance the entire time. Nora's escalating run-around is probably the most amusing part of the girls- because she was there first, and because her antics are almost credibly in-character.

Overall, a nice parody fic- particularly of the Jaune harem genre. So long as you didn't take it seriously, this would probably be a moderatly-easy story for any writers out there to attempt. (Though if you do- I recommend putting in a Ren-Jaune co-op line in which they both try and fail together.)

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Coeur's Reflection:

Broforce - a little unpolished perhaps, and not fully finished. But I liked the idea of Ren being just as hopeless as Jaune - he's just quieter about it. At first I wanted him to take inspiration from each of the male cast, but the styles aren't big enough. I thought of Sun, then Neptune didn't really work - as it's more than just an outfit. Then Roman's a criminal... Adam the same... where are all the men?

What I didn't feel like writing however was a Jaune and Ren on a journey together, sure it could have worked - and there was even comedy potential where in their efforts to appear masculine - wrestling perhaps, everyone comes to the conclusion that they are in a gay relationship. But meh... felt too obvious.

So instead I built a Ren Harem, then had him fail to realise. There were meant to be hints and recurring themes that I missed out. Like every chapter Jaune noticing something is different, but never quite grasping what. "Oh hey, new hair?" "New shoes?" "Did you put on some aftershave?"

And Nora trying to interfere every chapter in ways that look innocent, but slowly start to become obviously possessive. "MINE!"

But yeah - time.


	25. Ren: The Purge

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Ren is ex-White Fang like Blake.

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The Purge

Summary: Blake wasn't the only one alarmed at the White Fang's growing radicalism. Ren was to- even before the Human Purge.

Meta-Summary: A spy/espionage thriller on the last days of the White Fang before it became a full-blown, faunus-only terrorist organization.

From a young age, Ren joined the wrong people for all the right reasons- he believed in faunus rights, dreamed of racial equality, and wanted to be the sort of Good Human who made things better, not worse. Ren joined the White Fang's protests openly when he could- and when his parents forbade him from joining their protests, he offered his services secretly however he could. That's how much he wanted to help. First it was small things: picking up items from a dead drop, or listening in crowded places where a faunus would be noticed. Then, as he earned trust, it grew: dead drops became a courier, listening became lying, and as an adolescent Ren was a secret agent of the White Fang.

Flash forward past the recap, and Ren is a full-fledged member of the White Fang. Secretly, though- his family, distant as they are, has no idea, and the only one who's aware he has a secret is his childhood friend Nora, who he's used and led along into covering for his 'secret club.' Ren is one of a number of human sympathizers for the White Fang- who at this time still exist as a minority, but a significant number.

Ren takes part in a group mission in which human and faunus agents work together for success. Despite the success, there's an undercurrent of tension- some of the newer (faunus) recruits are openly suspicious of Ren and his human peers, and trust isn't earned even after the success. Ren, a boy of few words, listens as two of the older members- one human and one faunus- grumble about the new blood. Ren notices that the new blood- younger faunus- are isolating themselves, and aren't mingling with the human members of the team.

Returning to base, the team is in time for a White Fang rally. The dynamics of the White Fang are established by the acrimonious debate. The White Fang is split between the hardliners (who want more aggressive, overt actions) and the moderates (who only agree to covert actions, but keep peaceful pressure)- but the fact that nearly all the humans are in the moderate camp is poisoning the well. Moderates are accused of being human lovers, and even the humans are challenged to prove their commitment to the cause- and so the hardliners win more acceptance/deference over the course of the meeting. All the same, the old guard- under the White Fang's first leader, who's a moderate- reign in the hardliners.

Ren- who's one of the few humans to be a part of the 'hardline' group, since he supports covert missions like he just did- volunteers for a mission in a way that supports the hardliner cause. Moderate leaders are unhappy, but Ren's human nature is the excuse the hardliners need. Afterwards, Ren talks with an ally about why- Ren doesn't believe that the hardliners are anti-human, and explains his (young, brash) views on how strength and action is what will make change. Older people warn him against such thinking, but Ren is young and brash and waves them off. After all, his involvement with the hardliners is keeping the peace within the White Fang, proving human-faunus cooperation is real.

Ren begins a series of missions that, while successful, challenge is views. Rather than moderate their positions, the hardliners use Ren as their posterchild and cover to push harder, and to doubt the humans who don't agree with them. Ren is secure, so long as he toes the hardliner line, but Ren starts to see moderates he knew and considered friends- both human and faunus- drift away from him and the White Fang.

During this time, as stress mounts, Ren finds relief with Nora, his friend at 'home'. Nora doesn't know what Ren is up to, but trusts and admires him, and is always willing to goof around to make Ren smile. Early on, Ren is dismissive and even condescending internally to how dumb Nora seems, and takes advantage of her trust and willingness to cover for his 'secret club.' But as time goes, Ren is more worn- and Nora's cheer increasingly his only reason to smile. Nora wants to join Ren in his secret club, but Ren is reluctant- early on because he doesn't think she's good enough, later because now's not a good time, but increasingly because he's concerned. Nora becomes the barometer for Ren's growing unease with the White Fang, even if he doesn't think of it in terms of himself.

And Ren is growing uncomfortable- because as the hardliners grow stronger, the missions Ren takes are harder and meaner. The opening mission's stealth-and-sneak gives way to smash-and-grab. Instead of diverging guards, they hurt them. And when one of the (faunus) agents tries to quit mid-mission, it's left to Ren to silence her- and in doing so, he accidentally kills her.

It's a traumatic moment for Ren- a mistake, and accident, something he didn't want- but it's a moment of acceptance for him with the new blood hardliners, who condemn the quitter as a race-traitor, trash, and likely a police informant. Which becomes the theme of the arc, as the rising profile of the White Fang's actions is also leading to more police attention. The White Fang meetings become worse and worse- with Hardliners accusing Moderates of being police plants, and Moderates accusing the new blood of being the most likely new police infiltrators. This starts the point of the White Fang wearing masks to hide their identity- though only the newbloods wear the Grimm Masks yet. Even as Ren is reeling from his first kill, a battle nearly breaks out in the White Fang meeting. The only thing that stops it is the intervention of the White Fang leader himself- but he is clearly in poor health, and his position is shakey. The older Hardliners defer to him for now… but the newbloods have no such respect. There are open whispers of who will replace him.

For the first time, Ren honestly thinks of defecting and leaving the White Fang- until a new White Fang recruit pulls him aside and reveals herself under the mask. It's Nora, who finally found his secret club and wants to join Ren.

Ren is trapped, unwilling to leave Nora behind in the White Fang, but unable to get her out on his own. He can't get her alone when with the Fang, and she keeps their cover and doesn't stay with him during the 'civilian' times, and to make it worse Ren's attention/interest in her starts to get noticed. Moderates work to get her into their camp, hoping to use her as leverage against Ren. Hardliners think Nora will be one of theirs if she's with Ren, but want her to prove her commitment. Ren realizes that he's no longer a player in the White Fang's internal politics- as a skilled human hardliner, he's a prize, or a threat. Ren struggles to keep Nora safe, and to keep her from doing anything very bad.

The breaking point comes with the death of the White Fang Leader. In the leadership vacuum that follows, a compromise council leadership is created- a moderate faunus, a hardliner faunus, and a human. It quickly becomes clear that the human to fill the seat will determine the future of the White Fang.

What follows is the breakdown of trust. Missions occur, but casualties start to go up- and Ren realizes that these 'accidents' aren't accidental at all. Police get tipoffs, the Schnees get a lead on a hardliner base, and moderates and hardliners alike suffer 'accidental' deaths. There's a shadow civil war within the White Fang, and human seat on the council is kept open because every successor keeps dying. It's not until a moderate- an old friend even- tries to murder Ren that he realizes what's coming: as humans are being killed or made to flee, the Human representative is coming down to two people. Ren, held up by the Hardliners… and Nora, raised by the Moderates as their last shot at keeping power.

The elevation of Nora puts a giant target on her back, and is the spark that ignites Ren's betrayal. When a newblood tries to murder Nora, Ren kills him to save Nora- and in doing so, sets off the purge. Realizing that their candidate has betrayed them, and having found police moles amongst other humans, the Hardliners declare a purge: every Human in the White Fang is to be put to death, to rid the White Fang of traitors. Any moderates who oppose this will be killed as well.

Ren and Nora flee, along with a few moderates and the last of Ren's original friends. A running battle emerges, and the Hardliners are overwhelming- especially with their champion, Adam Tauros. Ren and Nora try to fight Adam on a train, but are utterly overpowered, and Adam kills one of Ren's last friends and cripples Nora. Ren, afraid to lose Nora, cuts the cable cars so that Nora's car will fall behind.

Ren faces Adam, expecting to die, but Adam pauses. What Ren doesn't know is that Adam is having a flashback of Blake's recent betrayal- except Ren is cutting the car so that Nora will escape, rather than trying to flee himself. Adam and Ren exchange words- and Ren denies trying to betray the White Fang, only that he wouldn't stand by and let his friend die. Adam has a flash in which he sees similarities between himself and Ren- and comes to a conclusion that Ren is what he would have been had he been born a human. Adam has pity, if not mercy, and slashes Ren. Ren falls off the train.

When Ren comes too, it's on Nora's back: Nora came chased after him, and is carrying him away. Ren is grievously injured and can't talk, but Nora talks enough for both of them. Their plans- Nora's ramblings- about running away and finding somewhere they can hide for the rest of their lives is interrupted when police/SDC arrive and surround them. Rather than fight and risk Nora, Ren surrenders.

A bit of a flash forward awhile, with Ren in a jail cell. Ren gets a visitor, the first since he and Nora were separated- Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy. Ozpin reflects on what Ren has done to date: kept quiet and not snitched about the White Fang. It's the safe thing to do, considering what the White Fang does to snitches- but Ozpin encourages Ren to turn over and be an informant and share what he knows. As the highest ranking Human hardliner, Ren knows as much about the White Fang as any human.

Ren refuses, but in getting him to speak Ozpin is able to lead him into talking more. Ren talks about how the White Fang has changed, but how his motivations didn't: he wants a good world, a better world, for everyone. And he wasn't going to sacrifice good people (like Nora) in the process. Keeping silent is the last thing he can do to protect her- so that the White Fang won't know he's alive and/or go after her.

Ozpin lauds his motivations, but informs Ren that it's irrelevant: Nora herself has already talked, spilling everything she could on condition that she share Ren's punishment so that his is mitigated. Ren can't believe she'd do that- wonders why- and Ozpin smiles cryptically and raises the prospect of the Witness Protection Program.

Flash forward a few years. Ren and Nora are living under the witness protection program. Ren is technically under house arrest, but Nora is there and makes it more of a home than anything. One day they get a visitor- Ozpin again.

Ozpin and Ren talk about stuff. Ren's knowledge of the White Fang is all tapped out, and has been for awhile. Nora is proud that Ren's 'all better' and been de-programmed from his White Fang indoctrination: Ren's even written a book on his escape and reasoning his way out of his hardliner mindset. Ozpin praises it as a tool that might help other hardliners rehabilitate away from extremism- something that transcends racial boundaries, and has proven useful for both humans and faunus..

In fact… Ozpin has his eye on one such White Fang member now. Ozpin's come to offer Ren a job, a way to escape/commute his sentence with good service. There's a former White Fang operative who's attempting to infiltrate Beacon for unclear reasons- and Ozpin wants Ren to find out why. Find out if this is part of a sleeper agent gambit that needs to be stopped… or see if this operative can be flipped like Ren was.

Ren agrees, but on conditions- that he'll be able to be a real student, that he won't be a spy or leader in any other way- but most importantly that Nora comes with him. Ozpin agrees with his demands, and Ren asks who he's supposed to investigate.

Ozpin pulls out a photo of Blake. Fade to black.

End

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Coeur's Impression:

An interesting concept that leads to an interesting premise. Ren as part of the White Fang is handled well here with the inclusion of human sympathetics in the early days, which is later purged from the group. It more fully shows the transition of what was once a very progressive group, into the murderers they are in the show. And make no mistake, as much as many people love to label the WF as repressed and misunderstood - there are effectively the same as ISIS today.

I think this story also sets Ren's future personality up well. In the show he is quiet and introspective, and it's assumed this is all due to just his core personality - but here with the way this ends you could argue it is the mistakes he has made which have led him to this path. Now as Beacon begins he is scared to act without thinking, so prefers to watch and defer. In his own mind he led Nora once, and look where that brought them? Better now to just be silent.

I don't think this would be a terribly complicated fic for anyone to try and cover for their own - Ren's emotions and reasons are well covered, as are everyone else's. In that sense the story is pretty well contained. I would have liked to see a little more Adam early on - I like his mercy at the end, but some additional build up as to "why" he shows that mercy would be nice. Perhaps with them doing missions together, or Adam being one of the old crowd who genuinely was fine with working alongside humans.

Otherwise it's good - and I particularly enjoyed the purge, which I was waiting for ever since hearing the title. It's a cruel massacre of people who once were - and still are - loyal allies, and having it as anything less would have been trite. So I'm glad to see CF went ahead with the slaughter.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

I guess I'd call this mediocre-good? I wrote this fill during a bit of an experimentation phase. Most of the experiments were poor, but this one was half-decent. Emphasis on half, since I'm not real big into the spy genre, which was what I was kinda-sorta aiming for.

Some thoughts on Ren, since this is Ren week. Ren's been pretty much a non-character for the first two seasons- here's hoping for season three- so the characterization to work with is pretty limited. In fiction, though, exceptionally quiet people tend to be smart and/or thoughtful- listening rather than speaking- which makes Ren's intelligence the obvious card to work with when it comes to giving/exploring a character flaw. In my view, I suspect Ren is the vizier of Team JNPR- Jaune's the leader and makes the decisions, but Ren's the analytical thinker who stays back and thinks. That's not a bad thing, but when it comes time to assigning Ren a flaw- because canon doesn't give us enough of a character to have a specific flaw- I tend to lean towards 'prone to thinking he's smarter than he actually is.' The arrogance of those who- knowing that they're smarter than most people- think they're smarter than everyone who tries to caution them. That's what we get here- Ren's arrogance of youth and thinking he knows best- in the context of a radicalizing group.

The radicalization of any group is something you can make a story out of. While there's too much to summarize here, I will say that this story drew from a lot of real world historical happenings- particularly the regular purgings conducted by and within communist-affiliated groups during the 20th century. There's a frequent pattern of extremists, once they are even tentatively in power, to destroy all moderate rivals so that there is no challenge to their radicalism. This used to be called the 'fellow travelers' in some leftest circles: allies of convenience who would be stepped over (and stomped on) once they were no longer useful. The saying 'revolutions eat their own children' comes to mind here, and fit well with the idea of Ren's flaw being that he thought he understood and could manage the intricacies of the White Fang politics and the implications of hardliners.

Ultimately, not a bad story concept, but it needs a lot more work than I was willing to give it- and it would warrant someone familiar with how groups radicalize and purge dissent in order to be written well. Not hard, per say, but subject matter relevance would help. Otherwise- I agree that Adam could have/should have been an earlier candidate- one of the hardliners who was none the less willing to work with humans (like Ren) who were in on the cause. At the same time, though, it was important to me that Blake not be involved- she's the sequel hook to 'canon', and Ren being known to her would defeat the purpose of being Ozpin's secret ex-White Fang agent.


	26. Ren: Beacon Civil War

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – The Beacon Civil War between Hunters and Huntresses was going badly. Too much fraternization with the enemy.

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Prompt: The Beacon Civil War

Thoughts: So yeah, another comedy prompt - i was going to subvert this into crushing tragedy, just to stick it to the prompter - but then that just felt too much like Romeo and Juliette - and I didn't want to carbon-copy another story like that. Also there was a key word that stopped me.

The "Beacon" civil war - not a world one, not an AU, not even the Kingdom, just the school.

So here we go, and surprise - surprise, I'm actually going to suggest this as a first-person story focused on REN's PoV!

Title: Come the Hour  
Summary: A new training initiative sees Beacon erupting into all-out civil war, but when it's boys vs girls in a school where the girls heavily outnumber the guys - and are pretty much super-powered - who can lead the embattled lesser gender to victory? Wait, me!?

Prologue (the only scene not first person Ren):

A brief meeting scene between Ozpin and Glynda, in which Glynda complains that Beacon students might not be able to stand up to other schools' students in the Vytal Festival. This is concerning because if the other schools perform better - they are likely to receive better future applicants, which means more funding - which means better fighters in coming Festivals - and it all spirals down from there.

Ozpin too is concerned, and asks what can be done. Glynda suggests that their current training regimes are too regulated, and don't fully simulate real world situations or pressure. Atlas uses advanced holograms, but the technology is patented and protected. She does add that Ironwood has said he will share it - if Ozpin announces, and I quote: "General Ironwood is more a man than I ever will be, I bow down to his machisma, and wish I was half the man he is."

"Since we both know this will never happen Glynda, what are you other suggestions."

"Retirement?" She has no ideas.

Ozpin humms, playing with a chess piece. His students are like pieces, in a game that is too regulated and ordered - unlike real battles. He needs to create pressure without danger, risks without insurance claims - and experience adapting to the harshest situations. Glynda comments that Atlas has the advantage because their students are trained like soldiers, but there are no wars to fight.

A war? Ozpin pauses, sipping his coffee as he thinks.

If they need a war... I can give them one.

Arc 1 - Rules of Engagement

From here on out it is Ren's PoV:

Ren is eating with Jaune and the teams in the cafeteria between lessons, he isn't really involved in the conversation, which is fine with him, - but he watches Pyrrha trying to get Jaune's attention. Some internal monologue here about his thoughts on the teams.

An announcement comes over the PA system however, as Ozpin announces the complete closure of any flights to or from Beacon for the coming five days - as they will be implementing a new live-fire training exercise that will encapsulate the entire school. All lessons are cancelled for the week. Everyone cheers. The infirmary is declared a no-combat zone, and the only safe zone on campus - everyone suddenly stops cheering.

Beacon is now a war-zone, and to simulate a war has been split into different zones that have been uploaded to their scrolls. Each zone has a command node, a room with an electronic signal emitter which will tell the faculty who is in possession of it. Teams are to try and capture all of Beacon - and whichever team controls the most by Saturday - is crowned the winners, and will receive Automatic A's on all homework assignments this semester - not including exams, will also have extended rights to visit Vale, free transport to and from - and investment prizes to spruce up their dorm rooms.

The teams are excited, with RWBY discussing how they will make their room awesome. Nora joins in, talking about bigger beds - and even Ren thinks that it would be nice to have some more bookshelves, and maybe his own writing desk. He also looks at his team, thinking that with Pyrrha on it - and their close alliance to RWBY, this will be a doddle.

Ozpin continues saying that teams cannot kill - but can capture other students, but most hold them somewhere as prisoners. PoW rights must be maintained, and failure will lead to intervention by staff. As for the teams, it is boys vs girls.

Ren freezes, his blood going cold as he slowly feels their chances dripping away. He makes eye contact with Jaune - who looks appropriately terrified.

"And it begins immediately."

Ren looks around nervously, seeing the room in complete silence. He then turns to Jaune - who motions to the door. He then turns to the girls, who are looking between themselves - before all as one - they turn to Ren and Jaune.

Ren is the first to move, flipping the table and kicking it at Team RWBY as he grabs Jaune and drags him away. The table explodes instantly as Yang strides through the splinters, and Ren and Jaune fight their way to a window before jumping out the second floor. The windows all explode outwards.

And that was how the war began. Ren comments, as he falls - as the first arc ends.

Arc 2 - The Trenches

Ren and Jaune are huddled in an abandoned classroom, looking over their scrolls. This Arc contains a lot of exposition about the war - I might even suggest a full day has passed, with Ren acting like it has been weeks. They are hungry - the girls hold the cafeteria, and the men have been forced to rely on rations they can scavenge from rooms. The corridors are unsafe, and people travel in packs. The resistance is disorganized and desperate - lacking a leader in the face of the sheer danger the Empire poses. (a lot of war/ references here, star wars too).

The school is broken into quadrants, and four are ruled by the members of RWBY - who are Generals, while Pyrrha is the command base, and Nora is an active aggressor - who leads forces to capture male owned territory.

It has been but 24 hours, and they are already being pushed back.

This arc is about Jaune and Ren as solo survivors, alone and weak - fighting with other men for food as much as protecting themselves from the girls. They trust only one another, and are look after only the two of them.

This Arc ends however with Ren and Jaune being ambushed by CRDL as they raid a dorm room - with a blue on blue fight taking place, until eight girls appear! Ren is able to command the six boys in the defence, and for the first time since it all began - there is a male victory. CRDL, shocked, pledges their allegiance to Ren - declaring him,...

WARCHIEF

Arc 3 - Forging an Empire

Warcrhief Ren is still weak, though his forces are loyal and full of the thrill of victory. His position is weak however, and cannot be maintained without action. Other male students scoff at his early attempts to integrate them - they are scared, and Ren is only able to convince a few to join him.

Cardin suggests that a victory might inspire others to believe in them, and after a few skirmishes see some men join them, it's still not enough. Within their command class-room, on a throne of upturned desks and filing cabinets, Ren realises what must be done.

A show of true prowess, to inspire everyone.

He calls his Spymaster Russel, and his General Cardin - and Advisor Jaune. Together they plot to attack the female-controlled Janitorial block, which is being used as a prison for captured male hunters. Free them, and they will have no choice but to join the Horde. And it will send a clear message to others, stand with us - or die.

Arc 4 - Daring Raid

The Prison is ruled over by Weiss, whose knowledge of administration keeps them running smoothly. She also commands a large force, as the girls know they can't afford to lose all the captured guys. This is made worse by the fact that they are maybe just eight or ten men...

Ren calls his advisor and General - and together they come up with a cunning plan.

Jaune stands out in the open and plays a song on the guitar, driving Weiss into a humiliated fury as she tries to capture him. But if there is one thing Jaune does well - it is run like a coward. And in the ensuing pandemonium, Ren is able to sneak into the prisons and free those caught there.

They all join the horde, with Fox and Yatsuhashi going so far as to pledge personal allegiance to Ren.

The freed guys want to hold the Janitorial block, but Ren feels it is too dangerous and will provoke immediate counter attack, maybe even by Yang. All the men shiver. Instead they abandon it, hoping to use it as a diversion as Ren seeks the true prize - one that will fully cement his position as the One True King.

Arc 5 - Securing the Supply Lines

The men lack food - many are starving, some even surrender to the women in exchange for sustenance. As the days pass, scavenging food is becoming more difficult, and in-fighting is rife. With their hold over the cafeteria, the girls feast like Queens.

But if they divert their forces to crush Ren's insurrection that they believe is at the Janitorial Block... then they will likely not expect the strike at one of their largest strongholds.

Ren leads his forces and is able to capture the cafeteria, which is guarded vy Coco and Velvet - luckily Fox and Yatsu are able to predict their moves and prove their worth. Ren declares the cafeteria theirs, and announces so on the PA - saying all men who wish to eat must pledge to join him - but hat none shall starve while he stands as Warchief.

He then holds the mic out to the assembled victorious warriors, who scream their support - and his name.

The scene pans to RWBY and PN - who frown. Nora comments that she could never have expected this from him, while RWBY laughs and says they will be crushed like the rest.

Running out of time - hell, pretty much have done, but most of that is the actual writing. Already planned it all

Arc 6 - The Empire Strikes Back

The Girls wage an all-out war of aggression to try and crush Ren before his support can mount. With his new advisors and swelling forces however - and with the girls now feeling the bite of hunger, his men are moved to new heights of heroism. He now sits at on the Dining Throne - giving his orders out to his most trusted as he mobilises men across all mediums.

Scrolls flare as skirmishes break out, quadrants taken, before being re-captured. Some succeeding, others failing. Reports from scouts and spies fly back and forth - detailed reports on prisoner locations (which he always attacks to build morale), food storage rooms. And of course... where the main girls are - so they can avoid them.

There is a battle for the infirmary - where the girls cannot take it due to the rules, but set up a cordon around it - so that any injured male can be treated, but then is immediately capture upon exit.

Despite the other successes Ren knows it cannot last - Team RWBY and PN are too much of a threat, and sooner or later they will band together to crush them in force. What he needs... is a grand ploy.

Arc 7 - The Red Feast

Ren declares a ceasefire and feast in an attempt to secure peaceful negotiations between men and women - it is day five, and the war will end soon anyway. In just seven hours in fact. He personally promises to feed all women who come, and invites RWBY-PN as honoured guests.

The women arrive in force, suspicious and aggressive. Ren feeds them all during the mighty feast, and as a gesture of goodwill even releases half his prisoners to them. He is sweating though, eyes watching as his men keep themselves ready - but knowing his position cannot last if the girls attack. Pyrrha asks where Jaune is, to which Ren says he is indisposed.

The Feast is tense, and Ren proposes negotiation where they come to an agreement to share territory - and claim that both men and women win, and thus share the prizes. Pyrrha considers it - and asks loudly if the teachers will accept that. Ozpin's voice comes over the tannoy - they will not.

War erupts, as the girls declare the deal void. Ren swears, as desperate fighting erupts in the place it all began. Men are beaten down - captured - and after a long duel, where Ren fights against all of them at once, even he is defeated and pressed to the ground.

Yang asks if he has anything to say, now that there is but fifteen minutes until the Game is over.

Ren grins and laughs - "Yeah... Checkmate."

Scrolls buzz angrily - men are attacking their base in force - zones are captured, it's a massacre, RWBY is back alone, trying to hold them off but Jaune and all of CRDL are fighting her - even as the flag of the men is hoisted. Pyrrha and the others realise what has happened - even as Ren laughs in victory. It was all a bait - a filthy trap he just knew they couldn't resist taking.

"Because you see," he laughs, "I am the King - but unlike chess, our movement is not just one man - it is an ideal that lives in the heart of all men. And today... it is you who loses."

Klaxens sound the end of the game - Overwhelming Victory to the Guys

Arc 8 - To the Victor go the Spoils

Ozpin and Glynda go over the game with the students, everyone laughs and friendships are remade. Ren and Jaune share the winnings with the team - and they all just laugh about it.

The story ends with Ruby saying that the next time this happens, Ren better be prepared for absolutely no mercy.

A tannoy speaks out: "As of now all flights to and from Beacon are cancelled."

Ren just goes "Oh for fu-" As six girls dogpile and hogtie him.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Amusingly enough, the was written before we had decided a Ren theme week. Or rather, Coeur went on three Ren fills in a row, and we decided to make Ren week after this one.

First thought- there was a severe lack of fraternization, Coeur! For shame! Which is ultimately fine- and I'd rathr have given up the fraternization than the comedy.

More seriously- and here's a criticism that only makes sense in the context that this fill wasn't intended for a Ren week- I question the choice of Ren as the war chief instead of Jaune. As a demonstration of Coeur getting a little burned out over Jaune and wanting something different, great- but as a character dynmaic, I don't buy into it.

For the story as presented, you could replace every mention of Ren with Jaune and vice-versa and it'd make just as much sense- and I'd argue fit their characterizations better. Is 'Jaune growing up to be a team leader' an old idea? Maybe (though I see precious little of it on FFN). But it's an old idea that works- like romance beats, or drama structure, and so on. By the end, it really begs the question of why Ren isn't team leader for Team JNPR- going back to 'normal' doesn't really make sense if Ren's a better leader than Jaune ever be- which kind of gives an itch of sorts considering I already see Ren as the vizier/advisor figure. Ren is smarter than Jaune from the start- and if he's the better leader too, what good is Jaune (besides trust) if he's just the dumber, weaker advisor? It's a reversal of roles that seems to exist only for novelty (which Coeur kinda admits to).

It's just- I feel Jaune already has the narrative building blocks for the 'tribal leader' angle anyway. Ren and Jaune are natural allies from the start, with the team leader role being an initial fallback dynamic for the friends even as Ren's fills that most-trusted advisor role. Jaune already has the 'alpha male' angle of competing with Cardin considering their past. He can appeal to/slide into the honor of CFVY for having stood up for Velvet in the past. And, of course, Jaune's reputation and abilities play perfectly into the trick at the end, and earn him the respect of being taken seriously, which is something Ren already had.

More... normal than Ren as the leader? Sure. But I feel it's a stronger character arc all the same.

(Still like it, though- and strongly suggest someone try to fill this, no matter which of the two you use as 'chief'-protagonist.)

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Coeur's Reflection:

I liked this to be honest, it needs more work - and sure the decision to choose Ren might have been surprising. But that's why I wanted it. Come the hour, come the man - I wanted to show how in my mind the only reason Ren is not the leader of JNPR is because he doesn't want to be / can't be bothered to be.

When they are starving and in great danger though, he is forced to step-up, and it snowballs from there. Jaune as a leader might have shown the same development, but Ren as an advisor would have been little more than a background figure - never developing or showing any more personality than he does in the show. I.e. a silent figure occasionally offering one liners. This pushes him out of his comfort zone, which is what makes the conflict more exciting to me. jaune's already been pushed into a leader role - sure this would have been bigger, but it wouldn't have been the great shift I wanted it to be. You know?

Also by now in my fics the whole "Jaune becomes the leader he was born to be" mechanic is old -old -OLD!

Ren though? That's new - and exciting. It allows me to explore the depths of a personality barely explained in the show. Is he merciless, ruthless, pragmatic? he doesn't hesitate as much as jaune - but only because he knows he cannot afford to in a campaign that relies on momentum. Jaune would have hesitated, pondered and paused - which would have crushed the entire battle for them.

So instead I chose to play Jaune as a comedic side-kick, growing in his own sense as he becomes an advisor and commander (a role he too has no experience in) - fighting alongside Cardin (bromacia!) - and learning leadership skills from Ren.

The ending needed work in my mind, a better one would have been for everything to "look" normal - and even have Ren joking with the teams how it's like any other day. And Yang looks back and goes "yeah... normal..."

As she sees rows of men on their knees, bowing to Ren as he passes. Others thump fists to their chests and stand at attention.

What it also needs is more battles in the middle - as Ren attempts to confront each member of RWBY individually (he does with Weiss, but I'd like plans for each) - before drawing the aggression of Nora - and THEN going for the Red Feast ending.

I also imagined the fight early on with CRDL over food going something like this:

"Ren, yes, I found a rat!" Jaune cackled, drawing it closer to his mouth. Ren dived forward, pushing the hand away with a stern expression.

"Jaune, have you gone mad? Calm yourself man..."

"You're right," Jaune panted, looking away, "I forgot myself... nearly became worse than an animal."

"It's okay," Ren comforted, "now give the rat here - I'll cut it into two and we can cook it."

"Better make that six." An ominous voice echoed from the doorway, as four figures spread out into their sanctuary.

"S***," Ren cursed.  
"Damn!"  
"Squeek!"

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Author Note:

Just a shout out/reminder to all those reading-

We really like hearing your thoughts on these idea we spell out, so please don't just read quietly!

And

We fully invite you to take any of these stories out for a spin and try to write them yourselves. A lot of these will never be written by us, but would be great for any ambitious writers-to-be.


	27. Ren: Ulterior Motives

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Everyone thought they knew him, he was quiet and probably doomed to look after if not marry Nora. But the truth was... Ren actually preferred blondes, with a certain busty brawler being firmly in his sights.

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Title: Ulterior Motives

Summary: Ren has nothing but the noblest reasons for helping Jaune learn to date. Really.

Ren has three elements of his ideal partner: fun-going, big-bosomed, and blonde. And while Nora was certainly the first two, she wasn't the third, and call it petty or not but that's why Ren could never see himself in a real relationship with her- and why when he saw Yang during initiation, he felt a tightening in his heart, and his pants.

Naturally a quiet guy, Ren hides his feelings, especially after seeing Yang dismiss (and embarrass) the confessions from hormonal admirers, especially those who Yang knows have other girls pining for them. Knowing he'd dismissed the same if he tried confessing outright, Ren concludes that he'll have to worm his way into Yang's affections first- and find a way to make Nora happy(ish) when he does so. Even if he doesn't love her, he does like her, and he doesn't want to break his friend's heart like that.

After some guy talk with Jaune about what they like in girls, and being underwhelmed by Jaune's low standards even as he's pleased by Jaune's interest in making whoever he's with happy, Ren comes up with a clever plan to both get closer to Yang, and to set Nora up for happiness, and do a good deed in the process- he'll hook up Jaune and Nora, so that Yang won't see Nora as a disqualifying factor. But Jaune is, of course, inept with girls, and Ren doesn't want to give Nora a boyfriend who will be bad- so Ren offers to help Jaune become better with women, as a bro-mentorship program. And who better for socially awkward Jaune to gain social practice with than equally socially awkward Ruby Rose, who just so happens to be the younger sister of Ren's fantasies?

The way he sets it up is quite effective. After coming with the idea, Ren proposes a deal to help Jaune: Ren will help Jaune become better with girls (and thus, eventually, possibly even Weiss), in exchange for Jaune owing Ren a Favor later on. Ren knows how much importance Jaune puts on keeping his word, and Jaune gives it, thinking Ren is the bestest bro around. Then Ren approaches Yang- not to flirt, but to talk about how socially awkward their team leaders are. This causes commonality, and commiseration, and a common cause when Ren suggests an idea that could help both their leaders: setting the two up on platonic practice dates. Jaune will get practice actually talking to and with girls. Ruby will get out of her shell a little with someone she's not nervous around. Because everyone's aware it's Just Friends and Practice, there's no risk of hurt feelings- and just in case, Ren and Yang can be there as coaches and chaperons as appropriate. Just friends helping friends, right? Yang likes the idea- both for Jaune to be less painful to see, and also the prospect of Ruby growing as a person. She agrees, and convinces/forces Ruby to agree, and soon after Ruby and Jaune are 'dating.'

Jaune and Ruby's 'dating' period isn't just the start of them growing out of their shells- with Ren and Yang pushing them as the peanut gallery. It's also the point at which Ren and Yang become close friends and start spending time together- just as Ren intended. Sure, it's not perfect- Yang's focus during the mock-dates is on Ruby- but from a different point of view (and not just at bosom level), it's practically double-dating. And through the medium of the mock-dates, Ren is able to learn a lot about Yang- her likes and dislikes, what she finds romantic, and so on. Even as it's supposedly to help build Jaune up, Ren is really building a profile on Yang.

And the thing is- it works. Ren is quiet, but more than that he's subtle- slowly changing things about himself to appeal more to Yang, and methodically broadening the scope of their relationship by bringing in small talk and other topics other than just Ruby and Jaune. And their success with Ruby and Jaune is enabling this: as Jaune gets better at flirting and being the gentleman, and as Ruby grows more comfortable, Ren and Yang need to step in less and less, and give the two more and more distance and autonomy. The highlight is when Ren successfully convinces Yang to leave the two alone in an amusement park… and to spend the time hanging out with Ren instead. It's practically a date, and Ren's plan is working almost perfectly.

There are some trouble spots- particularly the Jaundice arc, which throws a curve ball into Jaune's dates with Ruby- but Ren and Yang's greater involvement as chaperons leads to greater involvement with Jaune's troubles. On one of their double-dates (as Ren likes to think of them), Jaune confesses to Ruby (and Yang and Ren) about his secret entry into Beacon. Ren and Yang, as the mentor/authority figures who know what girls want, are able to break through Jaune's machismo reluctance to accept help, and Ruby (as extension of the mock-dates) starts helping Jaune train through a Signal training regime. Thanks to Ruby- and Yang and Ren of course- Jaune is able to face and overcome Cardin's bullying without being blackmailed. Almost everything is going as Ren planned.

Almost. Ren's noticed Pyrrha's interest in Jaune- and with Jaune becoming more confident and aware, there's an increasing chance that Jaune will flirt with Pyrrha or notice her interest. This is Bad, because it would interfere with Ren's intent to call in his Favor to have Jaune ask out Nora. Meanwhile, Ren notices that Nora is getting jealous of Yang- and while Yang doesn't understand why, Ren knows that Nora knows that Ren is interested. Ren needs to head this off before it can explode. He starts by encouraging Jaune to think and see Nora as a girl- framing it in terms of 'she's like a sister to me, but I trust you enough that I'd trust her with you'- while sharing some Mature and Reasonable talking points with Pyrrha about how inadvisable it is for a partner to be in a relationship with a team leader. How it's bad for team integrity if half a team can't trust the teamleader to be impartial.

Really, though, Ren's plan is to push up his timeline: proposing a 'graduation exam' date for Ruby and Jaune, to test them for social charm and competence. Ren and Yang work hard together to create as good a trial as they can- while also deliberatly throwing in some problems that would make Jaune sink or swim, and leave Ruby without a comforter as Yang and Ren only secretly shadow them. If Jaune can pass this, then Ren will feel comfortable calling in his favor to have Jaune ask out Nora- and then he can ask out Yang, having given her the gift of a more social sister. Ren is uncharacteristically enthusiastic about this date- and encouragingly, Yang matches it.

The graduation date happens- and it goes perfectly, or as perfectly as a deliberately sabotaged date can be. Jaune is able to think on his feet when problems like a canceled reservation arise, Ruby is comfortable in handling public places and even a (Yang-engineered) social confrontation when the Malachite twins come to steal Jaune away. It's a great night- even though things don't go to plan, Jaune and Ruby adapt and have fun at an arms range, and Jaune even plays the role of taking Ruby to a romantic pier for fireworks at the end. It's a great success, and Yang is excited and estatic at how far her sister has come. Ren, hoping for a romantic moment of his own with Yang and the fireworks, tries to take her away, but Yang is so invested and excited that she tells Ren to wait and watch.

Yes, it's the perfect graduation date… until Ruby confesses to Jaune.

To Jaune and Ren's surprise, but not to Yang's, Ruby gives a genuine love confession to Jaune- that even though these practice dates were intended to just be something between friends, that she doesn't want to stop like this. Not the dates, and not just be friends- over the weeks/months she's gotten to see Jaune grow as a person, and she likes what she's seen, even as she's liked the person she's been growing into thanks to her dates with Jaune. Ruby Rose wants them both to keep growing, and she wants to keep growing with Jaune.

Ruby doesn't get an answer that night- maybe Jaune asks for time to take this in, since he's just been blindsided, or maybe her otherwise mature confession leads to a breakdown in nerves and embarassment and she flees before she gets a response- but she gives him a peck and leaves in high spirits. From afar, Yang is so proud Ruby managed to go through with it- having known for some time that Ruby was developing feelings for Jaune.

And Ren? Ren is trying to hide his despair- because if Jaune accepts, then Ren's plan to get with Yang will be ruined. Ren breaks with Yang- nominally so that they can get with their disciple- but really so that he can fix this mess by breaking it.

Ren finds Jaune, who's moonstruck and still in shock. Jaune and Ren both were totally surprised by this- they'd seen Ruby blossom from shy girl, but didn't think she'd blossom into maiden in love- and Jaune is alight with nerves even as he's excited. Should he say yes? Can he say yes without screwing it up? Help me out, Ren my man.

Ren tells him to say no.

It starts as an attempt at a reasoned argument- that Jaune's not ready for a real relationship with Ruby, that Yang only approved of these fake-dates because they were fake- but it quickly falls apart. However bad Jaune is, he's better than when he started, and Ruby didn't mind then. He'll get better. And Yang's definitely onboard with this- so Jaune doesn't have to worry about over-protective friend or sibling. And when Ren tries to bring up Nora- after all, hadn't Jaune recognized her as a girl worth liking?- Jaune brings a double retort. Sure, Nora's nice… but she's not interested in Jaune, while Ruby is. And second… geeze, dude, how can you be so good at love, and not notice that Nora's in love with you?

That's the straw that snaps Ren's patience. Ren knows what Nora feels for him- just as he knows what he feels for Nora. Nothing. But Jaune- Jaune could give Nora something, could make a genuine effort. And Jaune will- because Ren calls in his Favor. Ren cashes in on the promise Jaune made before, and orders Jaune to reject Ruby and to ask out Nora. The callousness of it shocks and angers Jaune, as brotherhood and trust are broken- but Ren's invocation of 'Arcs never go back on their words' seals the deal, even if Jaune is glaring at Ren as he does so.

Ruby ends the night light-hearted. The next morning her heart is broken as Jaune says no, because of his over-night realization that he loves Nora. Even as Ruby flees in tears- still a little girl at heart after all- Ren feels a mix of guilt and relief that things are back on track.

They aren't, of course. Nora is taken aback by Jaune's confession, and its timing- but Ren's able to privately 'persuade' her to accept Jaune's feelings and go along with them: that Jaune must be very honest to say no to Ruby, and a not-very-subtle hint that at least Jaune is interested in her in way Ren isn't. Realizing Ren knows her feelings but won't return them, Nora accepts Jaune's confession as reluctantly as Jaune made it, and to the side Pyrrha watches with thin lips and suspicious looks at Ren.

Now that his grand master plan is halfway complete, Ren makes his way to Yang- who is dealing with the fallout of Ruby's broken heart, and not in the mood for a private outing. Ren's silver tongue convinces her anyway- but only in the context of discussing what's gone on, falling back into their early fake-date phase of where Yang's attention and interest was only on Ruby and never on Ren. Yang is angry at Jaune, of course- though Ren is able to temper that down by arguing that 'at least Jaune didn't lead Ruby on- after all, these were fake dates from the start.' But more than angry, Yang is just confused- no one saw Jaune's feelings for Nora (Ren lies and says he did, making it a counterpart to Ruby's hidden feelings for Jaune), and Jaune's response between the evening and the morning is just… off.

What ends up happening, as Ren tries and fails to invite Yang out to take her mind off the issue, is that Yang drags Ren into spying on Jaune and Nora's dates. It's an inverse of the Ruby and Jaune dates- where instead of starting close and getting further away, Yang and Ren start far away and get closer and closer. Eventually they get caught- and when they do, Ren fibs that he and Yang are dating as well. To his delight, Yang goes along with it- but joy turns to ash as it's clear that she's only doing so to get closer to Jaune and Nora's dates. Even when Yang makes an official double date, it's an awkward affair all around- Ren looking at Yang (trying to get her attention) looking at Jaune (trying to understand his motivations) looking at Nora (trying to make a genuine effort out of this relationship) looking at Ren (lovestruck and still hurting). Even though he's doing all the things he dreamed of doing with Yang (short of the naughty dreams), Ren isn't happy because Yang's not really looking at him.

As time goes by, things get a bit better. Kinda. Ruby is heart broken- but tries to move on, and eventually she's back on her feet with RWBY, even if Ruby and Jaune are incredibly awkward and can barely interact on anything but a professional team-leader level. Jaune does his best to make a sincere effort with Nora- and Nora doesn't dislike him. And Ren and Yang are hanging out without need to shadow Jaune-Nora or babysit Ruby- and never really 'broke up' either, so they're technically dating so long as Ren doesn't give Yang reason to clarify otherwise.

But Ren still can't make it official-official. Yang's still too hooked up over Ruby's heartbreak to entertain thoughts of romance herself. As the dance approaches, though, Ren sees it as the perfect point to make his final move: to ask Yang to the dance, even if only as friends, and then to confess his feelings for her afterwards. It's the best, only, plan he has left. And it's off to a good start when Yang turns to him one day and wants to talk about the dance. Ren's been a friend for her like she hadn't been expecting or intending, he's helped her with a lot of things and they've gotten close, and most of all Yang trusts Ren… which is why she asks Ren to ask Ruby out to the dance. It'd mean everything to Yang if Ren gave Ruby that little ego boost- platonic as it may be- to help her move on past Jaune.

Ren agrees, because it's Yang- and immediately regrets it, and wondering how he's going to confess to Yang. For once, he's out of plans… and he needs help.

It's here where he comes back to JNPR, and seeks help from his team. It's cordial enough- but there's an undercurrent of tension that Ren doesn't pick up on. Ren is sighing that he'll be taking Ruby out to the ball. Jaune isn't clear why that's a bad thing- guilty as he still feels about it- and Ren- in a moonstruck sigh similar to Jaune's wishing after Weiss in canon- admits he wants to go with Yang. Pyrrha asks why, and Ren admits that Yang is his ideal partner. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora trade glances. Jaune tells Ren to put off asking Ruby out, so as not to lead her on, and promises Ren that he'll get a dance with a blonde, or Jaune will wear a dress. Ren thinks he has such a wonderful team- forgetting, in his mooning, how he's selfishly twisted each and every one of their love lives for his own ends.

Ren puts off asking Ruby out to the ball, trusting Jaune to handle it. Ren, taking in that Weiss and Blake have dates/love interests in Neptune and Sun, assumes that Pyrrha will play pair the spare and ask Ruby out as a friend, since Pyrrha herself has no partner to go with. Yang is a bit impatient with Ren, but Ren (at his team's urging) pushes it off and off.

And Jaune and Nora break up, taking Ren and RWBY by surprise. It's not a spectacle or hyperbolic or anything- just a 'not taking her to the dance, because we're not dating anymore.' After Nora quickly excuses herself, Jaune breaks out a very Mature and Reasonable rational for why he's no longer dating his teammate- how Pyrrha taught him how a leader's romantic bias could destroy trust and cohesion within a team if everyone couldn't trust them to be impartial- and Ren realizes that Pyrrha is having her revenge for denying her Jaune.

Though RWBY rallies to the absent Nora's defense- blaming Jaune as a villain and suspecting Pyrrha's motivations- Pyrrha and Jaune make clear that they aren't dating either. It's just a general guideline for why a team leader shouldn't date within the team- but certainly there's no objection for normal teammates dating, right? Pyrrha asks that with a knowing look.

RWBY is confused- thinking Pyrrha wants Ren- and to Ren's relief, Yang draws closer, protective. Ren, knowing that there's more at stake her, asks/accuses Jaune about why he broke up with Nora right before the dance. Didn't he give his word to be a good boyfriend? Yang jumps on- yeah, wasn't humiliating one girl enough? Blake and Weiss glare for good measure.

Jaune didn't break up with me, Ren- I broke up with Jaune.

That's Nora, who's returned- wearing a very flattering, and very tight, change of clothes. She practically struts, and eyes across the cafeteria follow her. Nora gives her reasons for breaking up with Jaune- not just the teamleader bias, but the question of partner trust. Because partners should trust eachother more than anything- more than anyone else in the team- and Ren should be able to rely on Nora more than anyone else. After all, they've been friends forever, right? She'd do anything to help him if he asked. And now that she's free-

Nora, with the entire cafeteria as her witness, asks Ren out to the dance.

All attention on him, Ren slowly, painfully, turns her down. Why? He has to give a reason, given that she doesn't run away and everyone's expecting one. So he gives what he knows he's committed to: he was going to ask Ruby out.

That's strange, Pyrrha says in mock confusion. Wasn't Ren putting it off so that he could go with his ideal girl instead? Someone cheerful?

Nora gives an unfriendly grin.

Busty, continues Jaune as Nora reaches behind her to puff her chest.

And blonde? Nora finishes, pulling out bottle of hair spray and giving herself a familiar yellow tint.

Yang's eyes widen in realization, and Ren's world explodes.

It's the night of the dance, and Ren is nursing a drink, a black eye, and a still-swollen jaw. There's no dance for him on the horizon, let alone with a pretty blonde- who still hasn't said a word to him. Ren is the center of attention- and awkward social hell since everyone has heard the rumors of what happened. The fact that the rumors, while half wrong, are better than the whole truth- well, Team JNPR's reputation in the school is down in the pits right now. The only reason he's here is because his team forced him to- he couldn't hide in the room, and Nora threatened to break his knees if he didn't go. Things are bad enough between them that he doesn't want to risk it.

Naturally the one person to brave the social storm is Ruby, who slides behind him, punch in hand.

Ruby, the one person willing to talk to him when she's the last person anyone would expect to want to, wants the truth. She and Ren have a frank, honest discussion side by side. Ren admits his motives- that he wanted Yang. But Ruby wants to know why Ren ruined her relationship with Jaune.

Ren explains his plan and reasons- how he didn't Nora to either be an obstacle or be hurt if/when he asked Yang out, and how he thought Jaune really could make her happy. How his plans seemed to work so well- how Jaune improved as a person, how even Nora was pleasantly surprised (if not enthused) at how well Jaune tried.

If only Ruby hadn't developed feelings for Jaune. If only she'd kept it platonic like she was meant to- then Ren wouldn't have had to blackmail Jaune into rejecting Ruby.

That's what Ruby wanted, needed, to know, and learning is a weight off her chest. She still hadn't been sure- the half-truth JNPR staged in the cafeteria implied that Nora seduced Jaune away at Ren's request- and honestly Ruby's not sure which she would have preferred. That Jaune was stolen away, because she was an inferior woman? That Jaune did care, but not more than keeping a promise being used as blackmail? She really loved Jaune- maybe a part of her still does- but at least she knows the reason now.

It helps when Ren tells her that Jaune hadn't made a decision when Ren blackmailed him- and that if he hadn't, Jaune probably would have said yes.

Ruby… doesn't forgive Ren. And she in no way thinks he deserves or deserved Yang. But she doesn't hate him either. Without Ren's machinations, she wouldn't have fallen in love with Jaune- and despite the hurt, she'd not give that memory up. It was real to her, and those weeks of the mock dates were some of the happiest of her life- a sentiment Ren agrees with.

Their easy-going non-amiability becomes awkward, though, when Jaune shows up- in the dress, to the laughter of the crowd. Even Ruby cracks a joke- their first banter since Jaune broke her heart- breaking through Jaune's teamleader-professional persona he was using to ask if he could speak with Ren. Despite the joke, the air between the two of them is still awkward, and Ruby leaves Ren with a reassurance that Yang won't hate him forever- probably- and the bitter consolation prize that Yang wouldn't be this upset if she hadn't been so close with Ren.

Jaune and Ren are left alone, in the uneasy no-friend zone that Ren has been in since his team ostracized him. Eventually Jaune rolls his eyes and grabs Ren, dragging him to the dance floor- Jaune promised he'd dance with a blonde one way or another. Even if he thought Nora would keep the hair color and save him the trouble.

Jaune and Ren uneasily interact, more difficult than Ruby. Yes, JNPR is angry with Ren- his seeking love help is what pushed them all to realizing just how much they'd been played. Ren betrayed all of their trust at one point or another. But they're still a team, and unless they intend to break up trust will have to be rebuilt rather than left dead forever. The rest of JNPR has agreed that after the Dance they'll move on if Ren plays straight. There will be some team rules going forward- no dating within the team, transparency about relationships outside of the team, and so on- but Ren agrees to them.

Teamleader Jaune is satisfied. Betrayed friend Jaune is not: he resents not only what Ren made him do, but why. Making Jaune date Nora for Nora's sake so she wouldn't pin after Ren forever? Understandable. Making Jaune date Nora so that Ren could chase after Yang? Unnecessary. Jaune calls Nora tougher than Ren gave her credit for- and that Ren's scheming, meant to save Nora's heart from breaking, broke her trust as well instead. And that's not even touching on what Jaune almost had with Ruby. Until that moment, Jaune would have called Ren brother- hell, Jaune would have introduced Ren to Jaune's seven sisters. Who are, well, you know. Ren's type.

Ren apologizes- sincerely apologizes- and gets a bit of forgiveness for doing so. As the dance comes to a close, Jaune and Ren take notice of the eyes on them- which pretty much everyone, including Yang and Ruby, who are standing by the punch bowl, dateless. From Ren's perspective, he can see Ruby looking at Jaune with a mixed expression- and catches Yang looking at him with a similar expression, before she hmphs and looks away when she catches him looking back.

Despite not needing to, and no benefit to himself for doing so, Ren urges Jaune to go talk to Ruby and invite her to dance. Jaune is hesitant, as afraid as he is guilty, convinced that Ruby barely tolerates him- but Ren, thinking of what Ruby said about, tries to tell him that Ruby doesn't feel that way. Jaune asks why he should believe that, and Ren admits that he has no reason to be believed- but asks Jaune to trust him anyway.

Jaune gives him a look, but nods, and (dress and all) walks over towards Ruby and Yang. Ren doesn't stay to watch, but makes his way to the wall- though this time, to where Nora and Pyrrha as standing. The two wallflowers allow him to be the third, and even if it's not warm acceptance it's not rejection either. As Ren and the two watch Yang push Ruby towards the dance floor, only for Ruby to grab Jaune's hand and pull him along, Ren and Yang meet eyes and trade a stiff, short nod.

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Coeur's Impression:

Not a happy story as I expected, but considering the last few I received from CF (which you haven't all seen yet - let's just say it's been a misery-guts bunch). Ren as the intelligent one has always been the trope I assigned to him, along with his willingness to sit in the background and watch - the power behind the throne as it were, which is why in my civil war piece I wanted to reverse his and Jaune's positions.

I think for the most, this is fine - but the only thing that really disappointed me was the ending. I just feel the resolution isn't a resolution at all, it's more of a continuation of the black moment and a cliff-hanger.

If we consider the 7-beat system, then whether this is a tragedy or not there has to be a resolution to all things, and if we look at what that word means... well we're looking for an answer, a wrapping-up of the story in such a way that we can see what the result is. And that feels lacking here. Ren and Yang remain kinda broken - but there's a hint it might not be? Jaune and Ruby dance, but do they even feel for one another anymore? Nora has just been publically denied in front of everyone. Yang and Ren's friendship is in tatters (or is it?). Team JNPR is splintering... It's all still drama still - and while the ending is in sight I honestly just sat there waiting for the next post from CF on how it would end.

And it didn't ever arrive.

I know CF will say it's a tragedy, but the thing is even tragedies need a resolution - and all stories need satisfying endings. Satisfying doesn't have to mean happy - Look at the movie Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood, where he dies at the end - but through that act the villains get arrested, the young man's life is changed, Hell, there is even that funeral scene where his inheritance is protected from the family who abandoned him. He may have died, but the ending satisfies massively. The same with The Last Samurai, or Titanic, or Romeo & Juliette - yeah people die, but all the loose pieces of string are tied up. Hell, Macbeth, Hamlet, Pride & prejudice - they are all tragedy, but they end. Here we still have too many pieces flapping about. What happens between Yang and Ren, what about Nora, what about Ruby and Jaune?

In a way this story reminds me of Othello, though perhaps with less murder. Or if you want a more modern example, how about Code Geass - It's a tragedy with a satisfying ending nonetheless, where all the story plots are tied up.

Anyway, my only other nitpick would be that Ren isn't the only a*** in this, and that's fine - but it felt like he was the one who got punished the most. Jaune let his pride count for more than his feelings, or those of his friends. Sure, Arc's never break their words - but blind loyalty and honesty like that isn't always good. What if someone tricked him into promising to kill children? Welp, sorry kids - an Arc never goes back on his word!

Similarly Yang has no problem manipulating Ruby and Jaune to get them together, but balks when it's her, even going so far as to punch Ren when she finds out. Sure, she's angry but come on girl, it's no less than what you did. And what happened to the friendship between you and Ren, threw that away awfully fast.

Similarly Nora... I feel bad, because I have been on both sides of that. Having loved a person who despite her saying she loved me back, and honestly wished she could - she didn't love me romantically. And I have also had to pretend I couldn't see someone who loved me, for fear of breaking their heart. It's not easy - but one thing I would NEVER do to the one I love, is propose or put her on the spot by declaring it publically. Because I know it would humiliate her, and make her feel awful. It's a catch 22 situation. Does she reject me in front of everyone and look the b***, or say yes and be unhappy? For Nora to do that felt cruel, when she could have just cornered him privately and asked him.

As for Pyrrha, eh - it's the usual. It feels like she is getting involved just as a spiteful gesture because she wanted Jaune. How is that one Ren's fault, Jaune liked Weiss first, then Ruby - it was never about Pyrrha.

Blake... eh. Keep on reading baby. And Ruby was fine.

Now I don't mind them all being flawed like this, it's human nature - but if this is a greek tragedy style, then they all need to fall - and it just feels like Ren takes all the flak instead of everyone else. Jaune gets to be the victim, as does Nora and Ren, Hell - as does Yang.

And what was Ren's true fault? If we go all the way back to the beginning, it was caring too much about Nora. Because if he wanted to be an a**, he could have just told her no from the start and broken her heart. But instead he wanted her to be happy with someone else, and trusted that Jaune would make her happy.

Call it best intentions or whatnot, but in my mind Ren didn't do anything too bad. And Jaune is just as guilty.

But the main thing for me was still the lack of an ending. it's not resolved, it's all still up in the air - and it feels like we're still stuck in beat 6 - the Black Moment - listen to the definition of it.

Beat 6 - The Black Moment - Something happens to break everything apart, the budding romance crashes and it seems as though all is lost. It's often described as "a moment in which an event steals all hope from the character or characters."

It just feels like we're still in the black moment, and more than anything - nothing is less satisfying than getting to the 11th hour - and there being no 12th. I am literally on the edge of my seat, ready for the big reveal - the massive finale. Be it happy ending or tragedy!

And then the book or movie ends.

So perhaps a cruel criticism from me, but only because I genuinely, HONESTLY wanted to see the ending of this. And it's not much of a defence to say "oh you're worked up, so that must mean it is a good story" because I am worked up because it's "close" to one, but just not quite. But also because I've been there (minus the manipulation) and it's a close emotional thing for me.

CF did also suggest maybe Ren should have gotten together with Nora at the end, and I just wanted to add that sounds like a disservice to them both to me. If Ren is now alone, then let him be alone, don't force the poor guy to settle for a loveless relationship, just to make his friend happy. I wouldn't let the woman I love go through that, even I know it would just lead to me feeling guilty forever, and knowing she doesn't actually love me.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Let me start by saying I don't consider Coeur's comments any sort of cruel criticism. Certainly no crueler than some I've offered for his works. So thick skins and warm feelings abound- Coeur wouldn't feel let down if he didn't like this story enough to feel invested. And Coeur brings a number of relevant points to the table- if this were a fic I intended to post and he the beta, I'd look and likely make changes around each and every one of them.

But I also disagree on a lot of his conclusions. So here's a qualified defense- not an argument- on various elements.

Most importantly- and I'd say this is the biggest direct criticism- is the finale and story being 'unfinished.' I disagree for a couple of reasons. The biggest is that Coeur and I have different views on narrative structural archetypes- Coeur places far more weight on adhering to typical structure than I do. I view it more as a guideline- and one that shouldn't restrict a point, lest the guidelines become a cage that traps a story rather than protect it from usual flaws. Coeur says that lack of a clean resolution is a flaw- but to me, that's th _e point._ Things _aren't_ clear, tidy, or completely resolved- and for Ren the manipulator, who wanted everything to flow according to his neat, orderly plans, that's the karmic comeuppance as much as any other.

But that ambiguity, and the lack of resolution, is also the hope spot- Ren lost his team's trust, but while they're angry they're open to reconciliation. Jaune and Ruby aren't sure where they stand, but they can try to move forward. And even Ren and Yang- the trust may be sundered, but it may also be rebuilt. It's a long, uncertain path that will take a lot of work, but it's possible. That may not be a satisfying ending- but I believe it's a _good_ ending, and not the sort that you can normally get from rigidly structured plots structures. Following plot structure is a great way to prevent bad writing, but when plot structure gets in the way of good writing I'll leave the beaten path, even if the path is beaten for usually good reasons. I'm confident in myself enough as a writer, and on the basis of the reasons, to do so.

(And that's without the meta-knowledge that I was actually using the 7 beats to pace by the Jaune and Ruby relationship, not Ren and Yang- which Coeur can rightly call a poor decision since Jaune and Ruby were the beta couple.)

One the topic of the friends- I do think Coeur brings up valid points which I like to think I'd have addressed more in a full writing. (Jaune breaking Ruby's heart for the sake of a promise isn't something Jaune is blameless in, as Ruby mused during her talk with Ren.) And no one on Team JNPR was supposed to come out looking pretty (hence why the entire team reputation fell, and not just Ren. But I don't think I communicated well (or convincingly) enough why everyone is pissed at Ren, or what their motivations were. Perhaps too much show, not clear enough tell in the summary. (Caveat- I made a few minor changes to help that in the posting of this.)

Take Nora during the climax confrontation. Nora isn't asking Ren out publicly because she hopes he'll say yes- she only dated Jaune in the first place because she knew Ren wasn't interested. Nora and JNPR are publicly confronting Ren to force him to be honest, and to reveal his duplicity if he's not. Yes, doing so is harsh- but that's the point, because Ren was cruel to all of them and this is group retaliation. Ren took privacy and confidance and used it against them- and that's why they want to make this public.

Pyrrha comes off as spiteful? Ren shut down Arkos by convincing Pyrrha that she hadn't date Jaune because of team integrity- when Ren's entire plan was for Jaune to date inside the team. It was hypocritical from the start, and Ren sunk that ship for purely selfish reasons. Jaune put his promise before Ruby's feelings? Sure- but Ren lied and misled him about the why, casting it about Nora when Ren didn't return his feelings, when really Jaune was really just a tool in Ren's plan to bag Yang. Jaune never even had the opportunity to be completely honest. And Nora- Ren can claim he was doing it so that Nora would by happy, but his plan for her to find happiness with Jaune was flawed from the start because neither Nora or Jaune wanted it. Neither were interested in each other, and both only went along with it because Ren pressured them- holding Jaune's integrity hostage, and lying to Nora that Jaune's confession was sincere even as he broke her heart by admitting (indirectly) that he himself wouldn't return her feelings. Nora went along because she trusted Ren and tried to move on gracefully, into a relationship she thought Jaune was sincere about [because Ren said so] when Jaune didn't want it, with the immediate and obvious consequence of breaking Ruby's heart.

All so that Ren could feel free to make a move on Yang.

Ren's true fault isn't caring too much about Nora. Ren's true fault is that he deceived, manipulated, and hurt all of his friends for ultimately selfish reasons that he lied about and hid from everyone. Including Yang.

And I think it's hard to equate Ren and Yang here. Yang didn't manipulate or trick anyone to set Ruby and Jaune up- she only knew, and kept quiet, on Ruby's growing attraction after it started during the mock-dates so that Ruby could honestly confess. Not only did she not play games with peoples hearts, or try to trick or coerce the parties in any way- Yang's hangup on the rejection is that she doesn't understand Jaune's abrupt change of character- but her reaction to love triangles in the first place was that she tried to stay out of them so people wouldn't get hurt. Which is exactly why Ren had to conspire and lie his way to getting close to her, and is exactly what happened as a consequence- with her own sister being caught up as the victim, no less.

I agree with Coeur that there's flaws across the cast. I disagree that Jaune, or anyone else, is just as guilty as Ren. Ren didn't have the best intentions- his motives were as much lust for Yang as anything else, and their friendship and would-be relationship was and would have been built on a lie. I can't even claim Ren's desire to not have Nora hurt was his greatest motivation- Ren doesn't want to hook up Jaune with Nora for Nora, Ren only wants/tries to hook Nora up so he can be successful with Yang. Until Ren's public exposure, every single other person in the story who gets hurt is hurt because of Ren's instigation and dishonesty.

Ren is practically a villain-protagonist, saved from that only by a few sympathetic qualities (namely, his platonic concern for Nora and unwillingness to lead her on) and the fact that his villainous intent is teenage hormones. Given that Ren's selfishness drives the plot, I feel that the ending he received- where his machinations crashed down around him, but he has the possibility of future redemption if he works to regain trust and shows selflessness like his encouragement of Jaune and Ruby, is an appropriate one.

To me, that makes it a complete story. The story of Ren's redemption- the struggle to regain trust, if he can ever regain something real and sincere with Yang- would be a whole story, and the next phase of his life. This story didn't need to be all that- it's one of the things I dislike about structuralism, the feeling that life is over at the end with things settled and never changing. Coeur's not the only one for whom this story had/has real-life resonance, and what I took away was that things are rarely as permanently settled as they might seem.

And I'm not just saying that because my fifteen planning minutes were up, lol.

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Author Note:

And there you have it, a spirited disagreement between the two of us on one of these fills! You can tell we were invested in this- and we hope you were too. Share us your thoughts!


	28. Ren: Eye of the Beholder

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt –

Actually, today's not my prompt. Please welcome our first guest prompt, from Lucio BetaBlake!

Lucio BetaBlake's Prompt- Ren is blind.

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Ren is Blind

Title: In the eye of the beholder  
Summary: He wasn't the loudest of people, some even seemed to overlook him. But his dream to become a hunter was as strong as Jaune or Ruby's. The odds were stacked against him, but with his childhood friend Nora by his side, just maybe they could make it work...  
Characters: Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora  
Genre: Romance / Friendship

I would write this in first person, and always from Ren's PoV - it would be interesting to write from the point of vie-... experience, of a blind man.

Intro Arc: - To me, I can't help but think a strong first chapter would really set this kind of fic off well - so i'll be spending a lot more time on ch1 then I normally would, before summarising the later arcs.

Ren lands in the Emerald forest, rolling as he corrects himself and coming to a halt. He pats himself down, wondering where he is - before he hears a rustling in the bushes nearby, preparing himself. A loud hiss prompts his dodge, flinging himself back as he focuses his guns on the snake before him - recognising it as a King Taijitu.

Fight scene with it like usual, it's not actually mentioned at any point that Ren is blind - and of course the story summary does not mention it either. But at the same time, no description is given to sight or visual input. It's all sound, breath, feeling - and Ren's knowledge. He knows it's a Taijitu because it's a snake, etc...

Once he has managed to kill it he hears Nora's sloth call, commenting as usual as per the show dialogue, as the tree tops rustle and she drops down in front of him, booping him on the nose. There is a small diversion here when she says they have to head north, and grabs his arm - dragging him in that direction.

The battle scenes are somewhat the same - at least they happen in the same order, but there is more a case of Nora shouting warnings to Ren, when to dodge, etc... Still trying to keep it subtle so that the reader's don't figure it out at this point. Together they manage to kill the Deathstalker, as the others awe and make sounds of appreciation at what Team RWBY did.

Ren just stares at them, without speaking.

Scene switch to the rooftop of Beacon. Nora comments that their team seems pretty cool - friendly at least, even if that Jaune guy's a bit weedy. Ren laughs and says he expected someone like Pyrrha to be more uptight as well - Nora hums, saying they've both been pleasantly surprised.

She asks if he was hurt in the initiation, and he shakes his head saying he's tougher than that. She sits beside him, her shoulder bumping against his and remains touching. He looks forward out over Beacon, feeling the cool night air against his skin, and the smell of peaches coming from his best friend.

"What is it like?" He asks her, and without asking what - she begins to describe Beacon, the way it looks, how it feels. The vista before them as the sun sets.

"It sounds beautiful." He says sadly, wishing he could see it as well.

Cliff-hanger ending as his secret is revealed to the audience.

Arc 1 - Settling in

Nora and Ren settle into life at Beacon. Ren makes a friend out of Jaune, although everyone notices how quiet he often is. Ren pretends to read regularly, turning pages at given moments in time as an excuse for peace. How Nora's aiding him works would be better explained in this arc, with her often sitting by him and nudging him when comments are needed - or phrasing comments in such a way that it makes it clear people are talking to him. I.e. "Renny, Yang asked you a question - you're always so lost in your books."

"Oh, sorry Yang - answers..."

It would be revealed here that Ren's hearing and senses have learned to compensate a little, in that he can feel wind pressure on his skin and judge things better based on sound - but there's no stupid comic-book semblance where he can hear vibrations or such. It's never enough to fully fool anyone, but combined with Nora running interference for him, it helps. Even so, he has a reputation as being quiet and almost a little uncaring - and he never gets involved with anything, preferring to (pretend to) read. (obviously yes he could read braille, but that would give it away pretty quickly...)

Arc 2 - Complications

The bullying incidents take place with Jaune as the recipient as usual. Jaune comes to Ren for advice, which is a little awkward since all of Ren's knowledge of the bullying is second hand. Jaune asks Ren if he knows what it's like to keep a secret that could ruin you - and Ren says he does, thinking of his own impairment which would see him dropped from Beacon if it was ever found out.

Ren isn't able to really help Jaune - and the blonde leader leaves dissatisfied, even as Ren feels frustrated for not being able to help. Nora tries to cheer him up, but Blake feels annoyed that he can't help Jaune - "What's the good in becoming a hunter if I can't even help someone with such a small issue?"

It gets worse once Jaune starts to be blackmailed by Cardin, yet Ren doesn't know what he can do to help. He's blind - he can't even see where Jaune is, let along solve his problems for him. Instead he retreats to the library to read, this time smuggling in some books written in braille for himself.

There he meets Blake, who is also looking for some peace away from her team. The two become somewhat friends - rarely talking, but often sitting by one another as they read. Ren doesn't understand it himself, she seeks him out each time - but never speaks. He always reads until Nora comes to find him, usually taking them to their next lesson.

One time Blake asks him why he lets Nora drag him around so often, and make all his decisions for him. Ren simply laughs, saying she's his friend - and always has his best interests at heart. He can tell Blake doesn't understand - likely she thinks he is weak willed, and it does sting a little. But ultimately he swallows away that frustration.

Arc 3 - Event Horizon

This Arc would cover both the Forever Fall incident, and the Dock's incident. Forever Fall would include much the same events as canon - it's not a chance for Ren to prove and grow, but actually to show how useless he feels. So he does NOTHING to help, because he can't... and he hates himself for it.

After that though Blake comes to him one evening in the library, telling him that she might not be able to read with him anymore. He is surprised and asks why, and she doesn't answer - apologising to him. He can't dismiss the nervous feeling he has when she leaves - and when Nora collects him, he asks her to take them to Team RWBY - where he learns first-hand that Blake has fled, though they won't tell him the reason.

Ren decides that this time things will be different. He failed Jaune, and it still smarts, but he won't make the same mistake twice. He tells Jaune and Pyrrha what has happened, and they all split up to help Team RWBY with the search.

With his analytical mind Ren wonders if she plans to leave Vale, and suggests he and Nora cover the docks so they can see if she tries to board a ship. As the day ends and it gets darker, Nora suggests they leave sadly - but Ren refuses. Saying she might try to sneak on at night.

Long story short, Ren is injured - and Blake realises he is blind because he fails to comment on her faunus attributes - as he cannot see them. She knows the importance of secrets however, and promises not to inform anyone. Sadly, Pyrrha does not feel the same way.

Arc 4 - Fracture

Pyrrha is furious and worried for Ren in this arc, and attempts to pressure him to reveal his disability to the staff and retire. Nora is furious on his behalf - showing sides of herself rarely seen. While bubbly and chatty, Nora is OTT because she wants to act as a smokescreen for Ren. No one wonders why he is quiet, because she does all the talking. And she doesn't want Ren to lose his dreams.

Pyrrha's stance makes as much sense though - Ren has been coasting by on some luck, and a lot of support. That cant last forever, and his life will be the price he pays for it. She doesn't want to see him die, and considers a civilian life better than death. Ren disagrees - saying this is all he has left, and that in a society constantly under threat from Grimm - a blind man is considered naught more than a burden.

Jaune is torn, unsure whether to support his friend or his partner - and also torn between his responsibility as a leader to help his team, and his responsibility to protect it from harm (as Ren is a burden in a sense).

Pyrrha says she will tell on him, she will become the villain to protect him if she must. Nora almost attacks her but Ren intervenes, saying if Pyrrha can best him in a fight he will do it himself.

Ren and Pyrrha fight, and although she is a champion she is defeated because she completely fails to take him seriously, almost afraid to strike at him because she doesn't think he would be able to see and dodge her attacks. Ren takes advantage and disarms her, and by the time she realises her mistake it is too late. Ren comments than more than just sad, he is furious that she disprespected him so.

Arc 5 - Crisis

Pyrrha tells anyway. The team is shocked and appalled, though Jaune is still torn. Pyrrha argues that she never said she would not tell if he won - and also that she said before she would become the villain to protect him if she had to. Nora strikes the redhead, and she accepts it. Saying she knows she has betrayed their trust, but that it is for the best.

"You don't get to decide what is best for me Pyrrha."

"In this case I do, and did. I'm sorry if you disagree."

Ren is taken before the staff and sadly dismissed, with Nora laughing and pulling off her blazer, throwing it in Ozpin's face and saying she quits too. Jaune, who up until this point has still been silent, begs for clemency - and when that fails up and admits his own forgery in an attempt to force Ozpin's hand.

That fails too, and Jaune is also dismissed.

Ashamed, Pyrrha quits, not meeting their eyes as she leaves the room.

Arc 7 - Resolution

Breach happens, RWBY fights - despite being retired the Grimm are still in Vale - as our team JNPR who are all spread out. Through a great battle, they come together and fight with team RWBY - despite their arguments. Pyrrha apologises and begs their forgiveness, saying how she let teaching and discipline come between what really matters.

Big angst, argument but ultimately make-up. Ironwood sees it and comments that his school runs on different rules, and that he has space for a new team if they're interested. it's revealed that ozpin pulled a favour - as his hand was forced, and he couldn't keep them by the Rules set in Vale.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Coeur goes into the flaws in his self-critique, so I'll not dwell on them. My main thoughts were that JNPR as a whole seemed largely uninvolved until the end, which I thought this had the makings of a JNPR-heavy plot. It's less about Jaune and Pyrrha being clueless, but more that I thought/hoped this would make for a good friendship moment with at least Jaune- both guys having their disqualifying secrets, being the liability, etc. I thought Jaune would have had a lot to learn from Ren's self-reliance and dedication to his dreams, even/especially without realizing the disability.

Looking back, Coeur went the entire theme week without doing the sort of Ren and Jaune friendship I'd hoped for, heh.

Anyways- I feel iffy about the conclusion, though not in the way some might think. It's just a niggling feeling that if there was a headmaster who'd have accepted Ren's disability in light of his proven abilities, it would have been Ozpin. Ironwood's the military themed, and his school more militarized, and Beacon's approach to fighting seems far less standardized so I just have a niggle of skepticism that disability alone would be disqualifying. Especially since Ren proves his abilities more than once. Even though it's critical to the plot, it comes off as a bit forced to me.

If I were to open up a line of improvement, the issue of Ren's blindness that sets Pyrrha off shouldn't have been the dangers to Ren himself- it should have been about others endangered or outright hurt as a consequence of Ren's disability. If Ren needs Nora to be there to be his eyes, it's a concession that eyes are needed- even necessary- to meet the standards and expectations. Even if Ren (and Nora) are prepared to accept harm to Ren himself in the effort (like the docks), that's not enough to be willing to accept others getting hurt as a consequence.

Here's the sort of moment I'm thinking off: a friendly fire incident in which Ren puts someone into the infirmary. Say they're fighting Grimm, and being overwhelmed, and Jaune is trapped holding off an Ursa with his shield. He calls for Ren's help, Ren obliges- and ends up unloading his SMG's into Jaune's back, not the Grimm. Between bullets and bear, Jaune gets put in critical condition, and even though he pulls through and forgives Ren, Pyrrha doesn't, starting the slide towards her eventual exposure.

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Coeur's Reflection:

It's worth noting that i went above the time limit on this one a little. i wouldn't have needed to, had I played the game properly - but I made a crucial mistake. I spent too much time on the first chapter, going over it in detail. Realistically in this kind of game the goal is to summarize each arc, or chapters if need be. The plot, and not individual aspects. Whoops.

Anyway, thoughts. I think this was okay, the reviewer prompt was a good one - I have to say, and I liked it immediately. My execution was okay, but there are some weaknesses.

Weakness ) The Blake subplot never went anywhere. I don't think it was a mistake to include it, but it was a mistake to leave it hanging like that. In hindsight I might have gone so far as to suggest a budding attraction between the two pre-finding out Ren is blind. Which then turns into pity afterwards, leading to Nora calling Blake out, and Blake feeling awful that she let her feelings turn to pity like that. For a man who is very self-sufficient and needs it not. But either way, using it and then never going anywhere was meh. Chekhov would be sad.

I didn't ever want to suggest romance between Ren and Nora on this, but a close friendship. I also wanted to throw an interesting twist on their dynamic in the show. Nora is loud and the centre of attention, while Ren likes to fade into the background. But... what if there were darker reasons for this. Maybe Ren is only quiet for fear of making mistakes and revealing his secret, and Nora is loud in an attempt to cover for him. A sort of "notice me, notice me, don't notice how quiet Ren is, or how he doesn't look at people but past them."

What this could have used was a reveal of how Ren went blind, or something... I might have gone so far as to suggest that Ren's pink eyes are due to his problem. And that his closeness to Nora was being attacked by someone. Let's say as kids they were attacked by the White Fang, or anyone really, and that Ren covered Nora when some nasty substance was thrown on them, acid... hell, maybe even sap! And that it burned his eyes, staining them pink and rendering him unable to see.

That Jaune and Pyrrha never notice til the end? I didn't think this was unreasonable tbh. Jaune is not the most observant person, and even were he - there is the bullying arc and everything else for him to be focusing on. Pyrrha is much the same, in that she has eyes only for Jaune, training him and mothering him. Also if I want to finish with her underestimating blind ren, as she does, then it makes sense that she could never think Ren blind - because it goes against her belief that blind people cannot fight.

Now, I'm sure CF will agree with me, and others might too - but some may not. Blindness is a disability. Now I know blind people can live good lives and be very independent, but they don't go off to become gunmen or snipers or whatnot. And Ren's problem is a big deal to his safety. With Pyrrha's cruel reveal at the end... is it even cruel? There is a precedence to say it is ooc since she didn't reveal Jaune's lies, and his were just as dangerous to him. And maybe you're right... what I will say is that nothing is ooc if the build-up is well handled, so it would require some lead up to her making that decision.

But I didn't want Pyrrha to be a baddie in this, her decision is the best one for Ren - in theory. Similarly while Ren is the victim, there can also be no denying he is risking his team's safety over this.

But if they had worked together and talked things through as a team they could have overcome the issue, maybe even learned to work around Ren's issue. Instead they stuck to their individual ideas. They are all at fault. Pyrrha won't compromise, Nora will only trust Ren, Ren is stubborn and Jaune lacks the spine to rein them all in. So the team falls apart.

The ending, meh - it works to a degree. They come back together, things are tense but there is a new future for them at Atlas.

The Blake thing though... yeah, needed expanding on badly.

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Author Note:

And thus ends our first reviewer prompt fill, and the first suggestion that stole Coeur's heart. Lucky Lucio!

Tomorrow will be the end of Ren week. This weekend will also have a special 'catchup' of 'C.F.'s Mega Post' in which a lot of fills I did for Coeur when I had more free time than Coeur will be posted all at once. That will put us closer to parity going forward- though it also means posting rates may slow down a bit over the next few weeks. Such is a (new) life.


	29. Ren: Prophet

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Ren: An Eastern boy of a culture almost unknown? In a set of kingdoms that doesn't include any 'eastern kingdom'? What was ren hiding?

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The Prophet

Have you heard the word of the Book of Oum?

This is the most important question of Lie Ren's life growing up- a member of a small, nomadic cult that is most remarkable in Remnant for its unique culture and belief in a single creator. The Lie's are an exceptional clan of Oumites- not merely for their devotion, not for the exceptional number of Hunters they produce, and the Book of Oum the Clan keeps with them. A collection of prophecies, these are the center of the Clan's existence: when and where to go, times and places to avoid, and names of people who can be trusted, and people who can not. Even marriages have been made or banned on the basis of the prophecies. The prophecies aren't absolute- they tell what will happen unless you act accordingly, allowing you to change the future- but the magic/semblance of the book is such that the prophecies constantly change to compensate for the new future.

Ren didn't believe, not really, until he saved by one at a young age. After arrogantly defying the warnings of his keepers and finding himself in a danger he had dismissed- after all, if they truly believed, wouldn't they keep him out of trouble?- young Ren is rescued by a strange homeless girl named Nora- who, when she helps him back to the caravan, is greeted as family and Ren's fiancé, despite the two having never met before. Ren is shown the Book of Prophecies for the first time- and sees not only the prophecy of his own endangerment and rescue, but also one of his future happy ending to Nora. Nora is fascinated and young enough to think it funny, and Ren is staggered- but amazed at the accuracy of the prophecies within. His curiosity caught, wanting to know more, Ren vows to study and understand the Book of Oum.

Skip forward towards young adolescence. Ren has become an acolyte for his clan, and dedicated himself to learning and understanding the Book of Oum, which has convinced him of the existence of a higher power. Ren is book smart (in that he's memorized nearly all the prophecies) but physically weak (from neglecting training). His friend/fiancé Nora is the opposite- physically energetic and a rising warrior, but not particularly interested in the prophecies besides checking that the one promising her a happy ending with Ren is still there. It's a bit of a sore point for Ren- he doesn't like the feeling of being trapped/forced into a relationship- but he is genuinely friends with Nora.

Which is good, because Ren has developed a rather bad flaw that Nora helps with: Ren is so invested in the Book of Oum having the answers for everything that he's insecure and indecisive without it. Rather than make a decision, Ren will work agonize about which prophecy might refer to a particular circumstance- basically outsourcing his decision-making. This earns him some scorn, but Nora helps by spontaneously making decisions regardless, forcing Ren to respond to her rather than consult the Book (which, to be fair, he's already pretty much memorized, including as much of the changing future as possible). Still, Ren obsessively studies the book, memorizing every new prophesy and remembering the old, which occasionally re-appear.

Ren's future seems set- inherit the Book of Oum, lead his clan, lead the Oumites- when disaster strikes. Despite being forewarned of an attack by thieves and bandits (including one young Roman Torchwick), the Clan completely underestimate them and are overwhelmed. The only reason there are any survivors is because a new prophesy (that Ren studied the night before) explicitly warned the non-combatants not to get in the way of the defense of the book. As it is, the caravan is razed, the defenders killed, and worst of all the Book of Oum is stolen. With his dying breath, Ren's (grand?)father tells Ren of the last (new) prophesy of the Book of Oum before it was taken from him: Ren and Nora must recover the Book of Oum, lest disaster fall on Remnant. It's their call to adventure.

Ren and Nora set off in pursuit of the bandits, and to find help for the caravan. Their quest takes them towards the outskirts of the Kingdom of Vale, with Ren's memorized prophecies (including the new ones of the last night's study) guiding them safely. One of their earliest, most important encounters is with the Arcs. Guided by prophesy, Ren seeks out the Arcs for help- but while Nicholas Arc (Jaune's father) sets out to help protect/retrieve the caravan, he doesn't agree to help recover the book (which he thinks is superstition).

Dispirited and confused- the prophecy said that he'd get an Arc companion- Ren and Nora meet Jaune Arc, the son who is just their age. This Jaune is little like the Jaune we know in canon- brash and brave in youth, and a bit cocky. Realizing that Jaune must be the companion, Ren eggs Jaune into a bet that if Jaune loses, he'll disobey his father (Nicholas) and help Ren and Nora pursue the bandits. Ren is confident he'll win thanks to the prophesy and his own training- and gets utterly smashed by Jaune, who's been trained by his father and is a promising young Huntsman. Jaune in turn gets smashed by Nora, though- something the prophesy did not specify (but did not preclude)- and ends up joining the party. Keeping his word even though he hates it, Jaune steals Crocea Mors and leads Ren and Nora towards Vale while Nicholas is off saving the Lie Clan.

General adventure plot here. Nothing specific, mostly character development. Jaune, Ren, and Nora are a trio, and clash. Particularly Ren and Jaune- while Nora deferred to Ren out of habit and prophesy, Jaune is assertive, confident, and clearly the more natural leader, and like his father doesn't believe in the prophesy BS either. He and Ren fight and squabble like young boys- all the more so since Jaune has an implicit crush on Nora for her strength. Despite that, the three come together. Jaune eventually accepts/admits that there's something to the Book of Oum, and stops dismissing Ren. Ren accepts that even if he remembers the book, he's not the natural leader- especially as his prophesies are increasingly obsolete as the future changes, and his predictions end up being wrong.

The trio comes a foursome when they pick up a forth party member- a younger, non-mute Neo. Ren knows Neo from the prophesies, which describe her as a great and powerful heroine to be… and Jaune's future wife, in the same way that Ren and Nora are supposed to be together. But for now, she's a bit of a spoiled rich girl- albeit a trained and powerful one. She gets involved because her family bought one of the prophesies that involved Neo from the bandits. She's as amused about the romantic prophesy as Jaune is incredulous, but she joins the party because Roman stole from and ruined her father before the bandits left. Neo's personality is the snarky, older perspective to the three younger children- but beneath the abuse is a caring soul who is also committed to looking out for them and seeing them home safely.

The plot starts to pick up when the four get closer to the bandits, and find something terrifying: pages of the Book of Oum, torn out and sold at the market. The bandits are selling the prophecies for profit, but with each page torn Ren is furious/fearful that when they get the book, it won't be able to hold as many prophesies and help guide the future. The torn pages are frozen in time, and the prophesies never changing again. Still, the recovered pages- bought bartered stolen or fought for- help guide them towards the endgame.

The endgame comes when the trio finds the bandits, only to find them destroyed. Roman Torchwick has stolen the book, and is making plans to use it for his own power- or to sell it to someone worse, Cinder, who is even more dangerous. She is the danger that Ren must stop from getting the book, or else Remnant will surely burn.

The party catches Roman as he's crossing an icy mountain pass to Vale. During the fight, Roman pulls out a trump card/ally who's been hounding the children all the while. This person's semblance is memory erasure- and by using it in a double-bluff/memory gambit that's been building across the encounters across the story, is able to beat Ren's prophesies. Even so, the party comes out ahead because Ren has grown up enough to not rely on the prophesies, and trusts Jaune's leadership/his team instead. Despite Roman's boasting that with the Book of Oum he's unbeatable, he's beaten and the book recovered.

But at a cost. Both Neo and Jaune fall victim to the memory-semblance. Neo falls in the battle, and is stolen by Roman when he takes advantage of her amnesia to claim he's her ally so that they can flee. Having been abandoned by Roman, the mind-wiper takes Jaune hostage and attempts to force a handover of the Book of Oum. Ren, at Jaune's insistence, keeps the book, and Jaune has his memory wiped and rendered catatonic. Finally, Nora is injured.

Ren, the only one with his mind and body, struggles to save both Nora and Jaune. Despite being the weakling, and despite the freezing temperatures, Ren carries both Jaune and Nora. However, the snowstorm threatens to kill Nora and Jaune. Nora, prepared to die, asks Ren to read her fortune one last time- the one that said they would have a happy ending. When Ren does, he lies- because the prophesy now says that Nora will die from the cold. Nora, happy, passes out.

Ren has a moment of resolve, and a religious revelation of sorts, and finds his long-missing confidence and calm. Reading the book one last time, Ren begins to tear the pages out of the book one by one and burn them for warmth for his friends. By the time he comes to the last page- Nora' page- the prophesy has reverted once more, and Nora survives the night.

In the morning, Nicholas Arc and Hunters- including Ozpin- find them. Nicholas is distraught and devastated by Jaune's catatonia, and blames Ren as much as he blames himself. Ren watches Jaune be taken away, and knows that all the prophesies from before- of Jaune becoming a great hero and leader- are null and void. So too the prophesy of Neo- before he burned her page, Ren saw how Neo's prophesy went from one of 'she will be a heroine' to 'she will be a villain.' The only brightspot was the prophesy of his and Nora's happy ending- and he knows that could change once more.

Even so, Ren has hope for the future- not because of a prophesy, but because the future is mutable and he can change it for the better. He has hope that Jaune will recover one day and be their leader again. And he hopes that one day they'll find Neo and save her. Until then, he and Nora will go back to the caravan and try to prepare for the future together- not because a prophesy makes him stick with her, but because he wants to. Ren leaves with the intent of writing down all the prophesies he can remember- to get as much good out of them as he can before they're obsolete- but he's no longer afraid of what will happen after the Vytal Festival in a number of years, the point that the prophesies started to brake down.

Epilogue scene, because that's what we do.

There are two scenes. One is with Roman- who is taking care of Neo, and tricking her into becoming his pawn. But what's as important is what else Roman took- a number of pages from the Book of Oum, prophesies for future use. While the prophesies don't change anymore, these are the sort that endure for years into the future- and thanks to them, Roman makes contact with a shadowy Cinder Fall to sell them to her.

The other scene is with Ozpin and Nicholas Arc. Ozpin laments the loss of the Book of Oum, though he's glad it didn't fall into bad hands, as the incident reveals/foreshadows the Cinder Conspiracy. Nicholas doesn't give a shit, angry to the point of hostile- while Jaune has woken from his catatonia, he's forgotten the last several years of his life, and all the training- a reset, mentally and maturity, to a child. Ozpin's suggestions of rushing Jaune to train for the future conflict aren't met well. Ultimately, Ozpin and Nicholas part of poor terms, and Ozpin's attention turns to Ren an Nora. Ren, having memorized the Book of Oum, is a valuable asset even if the Book is gone- and Ozpin begins conspiring about how he can both protect and take advantage of what's in Ren's mind.

End

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Coeur's Impression:

You know, the day I got this prompt - and saw those words... I had just been approached a few hours earlier by a Jehovah's witness asking me if I had time to talk about our Lord and Saviour - so I was a little worried. (and slightly frothing at the mouth).

This prompt wasn't that bad however (nothing can be, NOTHING).

There isn't much to say about this really, it's a pre-release piece without an ending - but that's fine in this case, because the ending in a very real sense is the show itself, and everything ties together neatly to fit into that.

Jaune and Neo's tragic parting? I'm cool with that, it's sad and tragic - but it ends well, as all the loose ends are neatly tied up. It makes me think it would be cool to see a sequel too. Of course, people would need to stick through to the end - and when you have this kind of "Wow these people are OoC" right UP until the end when it's all explained? Well, there will always be those impatient readers who quit early on saying "Ugh, it's poor - you're wrong!"

But you know what, screw those guys.

What I might have liked to see though... is some really clever prophecy word play - I love riddles, and when the prophecy says an "Arc Companion" I got to thinking. What if Ren thinks the prophecy is referring to now, but it's not... what if the prophecy went so far ahead that it predicted its own fall and loss - and actually meant an Arc companion... all the way later in Beacon!? Eh, shocker!

What if there was also some clever word play about the Neo thing, that you could twist to maybe be suggestive that it's the "then and there" - but that you could also interpret as "later in the show."

It might be hard, but it would be nice. Really, when you're dealing with an idea like this its hard to suggest changes, as its all freshly made new stuff - and nothing matters, so long as you don't skew anything too much.

I liked Ren's resolve and his symbolic burning of the Book of Oum (praise be to) - also liked Nicholas' anger, which kinda also nicely ties in to why Jaune's father might hate Ozpin (which is kinda specific to my story, but eh - cool) , but also why Ozpin might accept someone with fake credentials (canon) and even make them leader - when they clearly don't deserve it! Maybe he is trying to spark memories or whatnot. Who knows.

It also explains why Ren and Nora accept Jaune so readily in the show, despite barely knowing him.

I liked the nomad angle too, I'm always a fan of a good set of nomads.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Huh. That one kinda wandered. I like it, but it wandered off the prompt.

Originally, Ren's quest was supposed to go around and he would find the author of the Book of Oum- Monty Oum. The Lie Clan was going to turn out to be the descendants of a Monty Oum who went into Remnant when he died. The Book of Oum was Monty's planning notes of the story and backstory- a reflection of Monty's in-universe semblance- but the limits of the Book of Oum was that only the part of the story that Monty knew/had effected (ie, everything up to Season 3 and Monty's IRL death) were sure, while the prophecies got less useful/more vague after that. Ren's asian secret was going to be that the Lie's were Monty's descendants, the asian culture was Monty's last girt to Remnant, and Ren was, of course, going to be Monty's descendant, if not reincarnation.

So I did intend to answer the prompt! I just got distracted by the journey.

And probably for the best- a mcguffin book of prophecies which were ever-changing was better than a future 'set in stone.' And writing Monty would have been... well, it probably wouldn't have been very good.

The scene of Ren burning the book to save Nora and Jaune comes from... I don't remember, actually. A Terry Pratchet book? Anyways, I ripped that from a good scene in which a priest who spent the story worrying about religious offenses and profanities ends up burning his equivalent of a bible, something he'd been holding onto all story long, to save a witch. Had a wonderful line, something like 'The Lord's Word gave me warmth," and it marked his transition from a weak-willed and insecure annoyance to a badass. It's what I would have wanted here as well- the moment Ren goes from depending on the book, to punching snakes because WTF not?

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Author Note:

So, a few notes.

First off- just to give you an idea of why some of of these stories are censored despite the overall story rating system- it's the FFN PM system. It auto-censors, and I copy-paste our PMs straight from then with only minor editing. If censored cuss words (and a surprising number of non-cuss words) bothers you more than cuss words... well, no promises. Coeur might write around it and remove cussing all together. But now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Second- tomorrow's going to be a special posting day. There will be four updates tomorrow, for a number of fills. It helps bring me and Coeur closer to the same number of fills (which is to say I'll only be five ahead), gives you a treat, and then makes you regret it when you realize why I'm shoving those particular four fills into one day.

And third- next week is faunus theme week! Coeur and I've got it filled out, but it'll start a new posting pattern with us. Theme weeks will be every other week, and we'll be looking to do some more focus on encouraging audience participation in picking out which themes (think a poll of options) and then we'll prompt people to give us prompts about those themes.


	30. Simulcrum

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – The odds were against him now more than ever, and Cinder couldn't be trusted in the slightest. Roman wanted out - and he knew just how to manage it.

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Title: Simulacrum

What better way to escape a dangerous criminal conspiracy than to take the fake transcripts of some nobody and make them your own? Cinder would never think to look for Roman at Beacon under the alias of Jaune Arc.

Roman isn't one to get wet feet, but he can't help but feel he's over his head with Cinder. Dangerously so. Deciding that the safest place to lay low is the last place she'd ever look, Roman takes forged transcripts meant for Beacon, and doctors them further. A bottle of hairdye and some suitably plebian clothes later… and who will know the difference?

'Roman in the place of Jaune'- with a comedic take that turns worse.

Roman pulls off the student disguise well enough- but struggles with the attitude. And hiding his narcissism when the media talks about Roman Torchwick: Roman, aka 'Jaune', is quickly seen as a fanboy. Roman has a near-scare in the encounter with Ruby on the airship- who doesn't recognize him thanks to the disguise of dye and a haircut. In trying to escape her, it's actually Roman who bumps into Weiss- and in his "Ice Queen' flirtations, robs Weiss of some of the dust she was carrying. Blake sees… but because it's against Weiss, approves. When Weiss realizes the missing- and Ruby stumbles in and causes the explosion that destroys the proof of a theft- Roman makes his exit. No one is around to help Ruby up.

Roman plays a wise-cracking, borderline narcisstic 'son of heroes' persona in his role as Jaune- basically, Jaune with the confidence and the suave in addition to the arrogance… and without the basic morals. But because there isn't a chance to show this, no one notices yet. Instead Roman wins Pyrrha's attention and interest by faking not knowing her- and playing up his narcism- which sadly plays to Pyrrha's interest.

When initiation comes, Roman easily aces it of course- and gets command of Team JNPR, which he turns into his personal little gang. Spotting Pyrrha's unhealthy interest from the start, Roman encourages it by faking interest. Soon Pyrrha is wrapped around his thumb- and from there, he presses her to go along with his rule-breaking by drawing similarities to how she uses her semblance for a 'secret advantage.' Pyrrha's fall- cemented when Roman begins an insincere relationship with the much younger girl and exploiting her emotional dependence- begins the mentorship/corruption of Ren, and Nora, turning JNPR into his gang. CRDL gets put in its place, and improves his faction.

Meanwhile Roman trolls Team RWBY- while doing nothing to help them. He takes petty revenge against Ruby by showing her up and highlighting her inexperience/incompetence as a team leader- and her pressures, made worse by the lack of a friend, make Ruby a nervous wreck who can't live up to expectations,especially from Weiss. He not only trolls Weiss about Ice Queen, but bullies her about her family- and how it's seen by others, ratcheting up not just the faunus students but also many of the human and anti-schnees against her. Roman has a feisty but 'safe distance' passive-aggressive dance with Yang as the acrimony with Ruby shows- and when Yang would try to fight it out, Pyrrha is the only counter Roman needs. Blake doesn't like it… but Roman is able to blackmail her first with the dust, and then by the knowledge that she has a bigger secret (even if Roman doesn't know it). Roman is even able to get a handle on her White Fang past- and uses that to cement the blackmail.

Roman's life in Beacon is like paradise- a vacation- and he chortles at how everything is getting worse for everyone. He even plays a game of wits and evasions with Glynda and Ozpin- who, compared to Cinder, aren't so scary.

And really? That's it- that's the heart of the story- until it all comes crashing down. Cinder's plans, while diverted, still have the White fang to gather dust, and still included coming to Beacon personally. His disguise is something… but he's on infinitely thin ice. And that's not counting Neo, who takes Roman's exploitative relationship with Pyrrha about as well as could be expected. Things are catching up with Roman- and this time, he's got nowhere else to go. His cover is going to be blown any day now.

So when he goes to Ozpin's office, and is confronted with a video call of the real Jaune Arc… who not only is far away from Beacon, but can testify about the doctored transcripts?

Roman laughs, and mocks Ozpin and Glynda for taking so long to catch him… and gives up, cooperating for the sake of going to a nice, safe prison cell where Cinder won't be able to reach him. That was his plan all along- he just wanted to see how much he could get away with first.

The End. There's no redemption, no heroism- just an evil man doing evil things, and making life worse for everyone else as a result.

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Coeur's Impression:

I loved the beginning of this, I liked the angle. I imagined it lasting until Cinder's team arrived. I imagined super subtle power-plays as Joman tries to weaken Cinder's plans without ever revealing himself. I expected subtle espionage action in a school setting, before an epic confrontation where Joman has to decide. His old life and loyalties, or his new friends and life - but the risk of imprisonment.

I imagined a Vytal Festival where his lies come apart, as people recognize little cues. I imagine the invasion that we all know will happen at the end of the Vytal Chuunin exams. I then imagined Roaune with a difficult choice. Redemption, at the cost of everything? or Betrayal, at the cost of his new gang - who, even if he can't call friends - he likes in some way (kinda like he likes Neo perhaps).

And then I imagined either a happy redemption ending - or a beautifully tragic one where he is either arrested, but accepts it because his friends are safe. Or he sacrifices his life to kill Cinder - becoming a hero at the end.

Instead I sort of got Jomanjaune going on some kind of power-spree alone in Beacon, before being found out and thrown in jail. This is the man who could sneak his way into Beacon as an internationally wanted criminal, and he has no escape plan? I get that you might say "oh but prison might be safer for him." but would it!? Roman surely knows what his old allies are like, they would find him.

It felt like CF had an idea, but then thought eh, that's enough.

Luckily this isn't his latest prompts, so maybe it was a phase. But I was "really" a little like... "uhhh... okay" at these series.

(Additional thought)

In Simulacrum, Roman ended the same as he started - it didn't feel like the story he was in affected him in any way, and again the theme is a bit lacking. Sure you could say "crime doesn't pay" or "all things have a price" but you can claim ANY story technically "has" a theme. That doesn't make it a good theme though. Normally CF's are pretty decent for theme, with Prism and Prophecy being good examples, or if you want examples in mine Prostitute Jaune or unscarred.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Welcome to the worst special ever. This was one a series of remarkably meh-to-bad fills I had during a week of driving. Each was written after 10-odd hours in the car. Probably had some affect. Surprisingly, ten hours to think didn't make for good ideas- or it could be I hated some of these prompts. Also, since I couldn't do the 15 min planning cycle, I tried to actually write them in 15 mins. Didn't help.

This Roman one I like as a design- but as a story, it wouldn't be fun to read or to write. It is a good deconstruction of the 'better Jaune' AU's- capable, insightful, amusing trollish, but almost always coming out to nothing. Yeah, I could have pushed a redemption angle of some sort- Roman goes to school, falls in love, does the right thing at the cost of his own secret- but honestly? That's too much like Jaune- and here Roman is the 'bad' Jaune, just having a last act of malevolent fun before saving his own hide by hiding in jail. He's having the power-trip fantasy that a lot of 'strong Jaune' fics trip over themselves for. He's having the lack of growth a lot of 'strong Jaune' fics have.

Basically- Romans is a bad man, and comfortable in being bad, and bad people do bad things. Redemption isn't for everyone. I felt the prompt of 'wanted out- and knew just how to do it' called for a stronger plan (ultimately surrender) rather than an accidental reveal and ruination.

The only thing that really goes against him- and I forgot this because time- was Neo. Instead of a 'get out of jail' card, I'd expect she'd ditch him after Pyrrha- whether jealousy or disgust or just a partnership breakup with someone who quit the game.

But... yeah. Like Coeur might point out, being _deliberatly_ stagnant with the character is still stagnant. And Roman's master plan of having a good time before he got taken out of the game- not what he was hoping for.


	31. The Underground Kingdom

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Jaune always wanted to be a hero, but sometimes the true monsters aren't those who haunt the abandoned and uninhabited forests. They walk among us - and for Jaune, Personal Investigator and Freelance Detective... well, every day in Vale is one filled with monsters.

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The Underground Kingdom

Jaune always wanted to be a hero, but sometimes the true monsters aren't those who haunt the abandoned and uninhabited forests. They walk among us - and for Jaune, Personal Investigator and Freelance Detective... well, every day in Vale is one filled with monsters.

Set ten/fifteen years after 'canon' in which Jaune never went to Beacon. The White Fang Rebellion failed, but Cinder's conspiracy escaped. Jaune is a police detective turned private detective who works in Vale, retired from the force after an injury.

Jaune gets called in by a client who also happens to be a Huntress: Ruby Rose. Ruby wants Jaune to search for her sister, Yang, who has disappeared while investigating the remnants of the White Fang. Jaune has contacts Ruby the Huntress doesn't, and the two work to track down Yang. Leads are taken, sources are shaken, and the two escape danger (or at least Ruby saves Jaune from it) when they are on the right track.

Ruby is friendly, cheerful, and encouraging- which a jaded, cynical Jaune can not believe in after seeing so many lies and so much corruption in the Kingdom. Ruby's cheerfulness clashes into Jaune's jaded cynicism, and Ruby eventually uncovers why: Jaune loaths the corruption he's seen entrenched in the force, and in the Kingdom, and in the Hunters most of all. Jaune doesn't trust Ruby to being honest- and admits it- and Ruby, rather than be offended, vows to prove that she's as honest as she seems.

The quest for Yang doesn't matter- what matters is the gradual development between Jaune and Ruby. Ruby's cheerfulness hides the scars of the White Fang Rebellion- when she lost precious friends. Jaune gradually opens up about his one-time dream of being a Hunter, and how as a civilian he became a police trainee right in time for the Breach and the White Fang Rebellion. Ruby is impressed at his subdued idealism, and urges him to renew it with her.

As the two get closer to Yang, they find evidence of the White Fang- and the remnants of Cinder's conspiracy, which raises alarm bells and warning flags for how serious this is. At the same time, though, they find evidence of corruption within Vale's highest levels- corruption tied to Cinder. Jaune and Ruby realize that if this got out, Vale would be thrown into political turmoil. Ruby vows to expose the corruption within the Kingdom- and in doing so, finally wins over Jaune's trust not just in her, but Hunters as a whole.

But as things come to a head- when Jaune and Ruby find Yang with an important macguffin- but instead of a cheerful reunion Ruby and Yang have a bitter, tense standoff with Jaune as the confused bystander. Yang claims that Ruby is working for Cinder, while Yang is working for Ozpin. Ruby claims the opposite- and asks Jaune to trust her. Jaune does, and the battle between sisters ends with Yang's death. Despite the rancor, it is clear both were conflicted- Yang dies having held back the entire time, while Ruby is torn.

Jaune and Ruby return to Jaune's place- where Ruby's grief turns into a night of desperate grief and passion. When Jaune wakes up in the morning, it's to find Ruby gone- and with her, all the evidence and the macguffin they took from Yang.

Jaune finds a message from Ruby- who apologizes, because it was all a lie, a gambit to get a handle on the macguffn for Cinder. Without revealing her motive, Ruby makes a justification that she knows is weak- that siding with Cinder is for the greater good, that the evidence of corruption would be better as blackmail for that cause than the political chaos that serves no greater purpose.

It's a self-serving, and admittedly weak, justification… all the more because Ruby knows it betrays everything she had built with Jaune. Trust, integrity, and hope for an honest future. Ruby apologizes- and though she has no grounds to, hopes that Jaune continue on regardless. To be the last good, honest cop in a Kingdom that desperately needs it, even as she has to take the responsibility and role of the greater good and make hard choices. She wants him to be the person who would bring anyone to justice- even her.

He doesn't. Jaune gives up and leaves the city- more bitter and cynical than he started- because now he knows that the corruption of it all can claim even the best of them.

Bad End

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Coeur's Impression:

The Underground Kingdom

Oh hey look, part of misery week. I spent most of these prompts wondering if CF's house had burned down or something, because the results got darker and darker - and while I like dark stuff, i like dark with purpose. These felt more like CF punishing the characters for something they had done to him. 0.o

What can I even say about this one? It's a character massacre, both physically and emotionally. There doesn't seem to be enough reason for why Ruby is where she is, which is obvious since if she revealed that then the reader would know - but that just means the betrayal comes out of nowhere. And since Yang is dead we never find out either.

Maybe Ruby could have weaved a story about the things Yang went through, that resulted in her betrayal - before at the end saying something like "those things I said Yang went through, I may have been talking about the wrong sister..." and Jaune realises her stories were all about herself, and how much she hated herself.

But even then sheesh, I wouldn't read it I think - and not in a cruel way. It doesn't even feel like a tragedy, at least those come with an emotional crescendo - this pulls you down into the dirt then just leaves you there.

I thought it also lacked any real character development and in a sense, any real theme. Hidden Kingdom at least had a subterfuge element, but as for the message - don't trust anyone? Give up on being honest? Not exactly much of a theme.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Let's just call this shitty noire from someone who barely knows what noire is. With a little hardboiled cop throw in as well, since I confuse the two.

For how bad I think this is, it's surprising how many of the elements were deliberate and I actually like. The two biggest are Ruby's betrayal, and Ruby's lack of motivation. Both were important to me to show how bad/dystopic this future had become with Jaune off in a failure route. Ruby was to be the proof of monsters everywhere- even as she regretted it- but Jaune never understanding was part of the theme. Jaune's a tool, and observer to the evils that happen, and struggling to not be a tool of corruption and deceit- and once again, like every other day in Vale, he gets taken advantage of. Not understanding the why just nails that in harder- even as Ruby's regret humanizes her in a way that most his foes never were, and so makes the betrayal harder on Jaune.

I think my opinion of this story would have gone up had I thought of Coeur's suggestion- of Ruby giving her backstory by way of Yang. You can still keep her and Cinder's motive an unexplained mystery, while exploring Ruby's fall. Like, initially 'Yang' was intended as a plant/lead into Cinder, but then 'Yang' saw the corruption of the system and 'Yang' was forced to kill a friend in the cover up and 'Yang' had her partner killed by the ungrateful system and so on, until 'Yang' became convinced that the system had to be overthrown.

Ruby's important in this, and I actually like her role- the 'innocent' who's fallen prey to the corruption of Vale, the regretful monster who Jaune forms a bond with, and the person who's both most invested in Jaune's hanging in there but also the cause for his fall. It's a delightfully miserable corruption of her usual role, both in fanfiction and in my mind, as the innocent enabler, and her regret and guilt with Jaune show she's hardly some baked villain.

Still. Mighty depressing.

Ultimately I blame myself. I also blame Coeur (that's a joke) for giving me a bunch of prompts that were poisoned in my mind. Simulcrap had to deal with Roman being on the run from both the law and the underworld, which was why I had him basically get out of both by escaping to jail. In this case, it was the prompt's triple emphasis on 'monsters anywhere.' Every day, amongst us? Yeah, I know that- but if you're going to emphasize in triplicate, it just seemed that it had to be the focus. If there'd been less emphasis on monsters monsters everywhere, I'd probably have written something happier abnd more optimistic, while still including monsters. Maybe a happier story in which Huntress!Ruby meets Detective!Jaune. But that wasn't the prompt.

[/rant. Don't blame Coeur. Blame me.]

To rub salt into this wound- the day after I wrote this, author TenchiSaWaDa wrote 'The Detective'- an actual 'Jaune is a cop' infinitely better than this, and actually is the happier Jaune Ruby thing I wanted to write. Go give it the Coeur bump.


	32. Decoy Protagonist

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Jaune wasn't the Gamer - but he sure thought he was.

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Decoy Protagonist

"Eh, it's like my Mom used to say: live's a game, and everyone's their own player. But what's the fun of a game if you're not having fun?"

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Starting about two/three years before canon, Jaune wakes up one day and- does not become the Gamer. Instead he goes out into Vale, aiming to go to a game convention where there's a gaming tournament. The winner can get a scholarship to any school in Vale- and Jaune wants to win to get a slot in Signal Combat Academy. He's already a year late, but he has hopes! …and likes to goof off with video games.

Going to the tournament, which is by Signal Academy, Jaune meets a younger girl who falls from a tree. Turns out it's Ruby Rose- early entry to Signal Academy- who waves it off as 'training,' even as she takes Jaune's proffered hand and offer for help. Jaune wonders why no one else around offered, and Ruby explains it's because she's too good: she's already a prodigy, and even though she's just entered Signal she's already better than most her classmates. Jaune is skeptical at first- until Ruby easily bests him at feats of strength- but rather than get upset at being shown up, Jaune is impressed and oohs- until he realizes he's late for the tournament. Ruby is curious, Jaune frames it like an epic quest with rewards, and it catches Ruby's attention and she follows.

Jaune tries to enter the tournament- only to learn that it's a team-tournament, not a solo one. Ruby offers to help, and they do astounding- Jaune's not the best player himself, but Ruby's able to pick up all sorts of things remarkably quick and her observation skills are peerless. While they win their way up, Jaune and Ruby connect closer as young teenagers/pre-teens do- by talking stuff. Jaune explains why he wants the tournament- because he wants to get into Signal and become a Hunter. Ruby wants to be a Huntress herself- but she's such a progidy that she's already isolated, and she's not having challenges anymore. She is, quite simply, too good- and it makes her unhappy.

When they get to the finals event, it turns out that the Team is forced to fight eachother so that the winner can get the scholarship. It'll go to Jaune regardless, since Ruby's already a student at Signal… but rather than throw the match, Jaune goades her into a game of luck and strategy. Much to Ruby's surprise, she loses. It's the start of a friendship as Jaune gets into Signal.

Despite their vast difference, Ruby takes an interest in training Jaune up- and Jaune tags along with her on her many miscellaneous outings that often turn into adventures. It eventually becomes clear/is revealed that Ruby is the Gamer- still in the early grind phase, but still ahead of most people in Signal.

Ruby's struggling because she's not a good gamer- the Gamer's Mind doesn't make her actually competent, and she's already sunk most of her stat points into agility (making her as fast as in canon). She's simultaneously stronger than her peers, but running into things far too powerful. Quests are getting harder, and more dangerous, and she's not mentally ready- even if she's mentally immune to fear, she's still got social issues. To make it worse, as things get worse it gets harder for her to allow Jaune to be around: he's weak, she's strong, and the enemies are so much stronger that he'll be splattered. This applies not only to Jaune, but her family: Ruby is afraid, gamer mind or no, that if she keeps racing up the power curve, Yang will be so underpowered that she'll get killed trying to protect Ruby.

Jaune's role- rather than 'I'm the video game expert, I know how to min-max'- is to instead ask the question "so what?" Jaune's been weak all his life- even Ruby overpowered him with ease- but he's gone ahead with living the way he does because he wants to. Ruby being stronger than him doesn't bother him- and other things being stronger than Ruby, too strong for her to protect him from, doesn't change that. Jaune's a NPC in the death-world that is Remnant, even before the Game- and he still wants to be a Hunter. And Yang will still want to protect Ruby. Not because she needs it, but because they want to.

Together they question why the world keeps escalating with Ruby's level. The more Ruby rushes through missions to get power, the more powerful her enemies get- she's always behind. But would things escalate as quick if she just slowed down? If Ruby simply ignores those epic adventure prompts… so what? Jaune's (suicidal?) desire to be a Hunter helps Ruby balance her powers against others.

Through their past-time of playing games- something that's 'training' for Ruby to understand game mechanics, but also the one field where Jaune can beat her- Jaune teaches Ruby the philosophy of a gamer (small g) like himself: players play games for fun, not to get played by the game. Take a racing game: the mechanics of the game intend for everyone to race from start to finish. But what if you disregard the race, and spend time exploring the map instead? If that's more fun, wouldn't that be a

It also leads to some meta-realizations about the game: after all, if Ruby is running into stronger and stronger encounters as she improves… doesn't that mean the NPCs/characters are getting stronger as well? And if NPCs are stronger- doesn't mean that Jaune can get stronger too? Strong enough to be one of those NPCs who rival, even surpasses, Ruby in power?

When a Main Quest comes to Ruby- the sort that she's been dreading and struggling with- the two come to terms. Ruby resolves to take the quest- because she wants to, not because she feels she has to as a Gamer- and Jaune will be left behind to train more at Signal. But Jaune- getting a sense for the meta-logic of the game, and some insight from Ruby's Gamer analysis- makes Ruby a promise: the next time they meet, Jaune will be her Rival. After all, veryone knows that Rivals are always just as strong as the protagonist. Ruby agrees, and goes for her main quest.

Ruby goes, and Jaune semblance/unique property of 'never going back on his word' gives Jaune limited access to Gamer stats. Not the Gamer Mind, not the abilities, but stats. Thanks to his unique title as 'Rival', Jaune gets powerups whenever Ruby levels up- on top of his own grinding for growth. Jaune quickly rises, while hearing of Ruby's exploits across the globe- but he notices that rather than be extremely overpowered for Beacon, he's actually competitive.

When Beacon comes closer, Ruby returns- happier, and more fulfilled, for having played The Game for fun rather than min-maxing and engaging in a never-ending escalation. Titanic civilization-destroying Grimm haven't spawned… or if they have, they're still being scaled to Ruby's level, and are thus manageable by the Kingdoms.

Ruby's secret for having fun is letting other people join her on her challenges. They level up too- and rather than driving the world to level up faster than her friends and family, Ruby is getting her friends and family to level up faster than the world, like Jaune is. There's still a lot to figure out about being the Gamer- and playing the game- but Ruby's going to win the game by having fun, not by min-maxing.

Ruby and Jaune play their games- and Ruby's improved enough to win some- before Jaune challenges her to another challenge: when they get into Beacon, they'll aim for different teams and see whose team is best.

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Coeur's Impression:

Eh - I felt this prompt was really damn easy to be honest, but CF had trouble. He took a little bit from an old gamer fic I planned to write, before I just gave up and accepted that I really don't like gamer crossovers. But my old idea was the cruelties of a Game world and rules, i.e. enemy level scaling, the protagonist placing their friends in danger by min-maxing - and some horrible things like Gamer Jaune asking Velvet out - triggering a charisma check which breaks Velvet's mind - as she slowly becomes obsessed with him to the point of Yandere.

Not by her own choice, but because the Gamer charisma changed her by accident. Driving her insane. She would then have to be killed by hunters, when she takes Jaune hostage, and tries to kill a female friend she thinks if encroaching on the one she "loves"

Anyway, this isn't that - though it has a few things similar.

I like the subversion on the oh-so-boring "h*** derp, I am gamer - watch me OP to victory" trope I see in most Gamer fics. But at the same time I feel like if you're going with a really interesting world-building thing, then there probably should be a cool plot to go along with it. This is more of a growing-up thing, and while that's fine as a story, it feels like it could have existed without the Gamer semblance at all.

Which was kinda the actual idea of the prompt I gave, that there is no Gamer. But CF subverted it, ironically into something he hated. Talk about masochistic.

The resolution is fine... but it's a bit tame in my mind. It doesn't feel earth-shattering. Jaune just kinda becomes... more of himself, no real big changes. And while Ruby learns to be happy and chill out, it's not through some great conflict and/or world shattering emotional event, it's just Jaune coming up with some almost game-exploit suggestions and her going along with it. I know you don't always have to go big, but sometimes I feel you have to go somewhere.

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't super-exciting for me either.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Who wants to lower their opinion of College Fool by immature ranting? If so, read on.

Coeur already knows, but I fucking hated this one. And this prompt. Pardon my french- I fucking hated this this time I really do blame Coeur. (Coeur's already aware of this, and knows it's not personal at him.)

So let me why I hate this prompt, so I can get it out and never say it again. This prompt is a great example of why The Gamer knockoffs spawn so much shit, because game mechanics are confused for plot. There's a word for a game world in which things are driven by rules. And that is 'game.' Or, 'Role Playing Game' if you want to emphasize the role of stats. You know what some good RPGs that involve the sort of tropes Coeur wanted? Skyrim. Fallout. Or just about any other RPG ever created.

(But seriously- stick with Fallout and Skyrim. And youtube 'Fallout vs. Skyrim' for the mechanics Coeur was wanting.)

But no- Coeur wanted The Gamer.

And re-emphasized The Gamer when I asked him about it. He did give me permission to subvert, which I was trying not to do, but the emphasis on The Gamer trapped me. (Because I let it. Because this entire 'special' fill was me trying NOT to subvert prompts willy-nilly.)

Which ultimately ruined this fill, because The Gamer is just about the _worst_ RPG-concept to use for this prompt.

The Gamer is not a genre. It's a specific, and exceptional, dynamic with gimmicks unique to The Gamer. Especially in the context of RWBY, where The Games We Play is one of the most famous Gamer fanfics there is- more RWBY fans know of The Gamer from that than anywhere else, probably. But The Gamer has several traits and gimmicks that make it practically impossible to 'think' you're the Gamer when you're not. The Gamer (the player) has the HUD and quests prompts and everything else telling them that they're the Gamer. The Gamer has unique stat growth and ability gains that other people in the setting don't. The Gamer is also a giant masqeurade- people don't know that the Gamer is real, or even exists, unless the Gamer brings them in on it. And once they are, the Gamer's unique nature makes it easy to prove or disprove their claim.

It's practically impossible to think you're the Gamer when you're not.

So I struggled- over those ten hours in a car- and came up with three main paths.

One was, Jaune is insane. This wasn't comedy, because Jaune was pitiful on top of being pathetic. He sees boxes because he's crazy, but the boxes aren't real so they don't actually solve or help anything. I would have ended that one quick with Jaune dying in Initiation by his own stupidity. You wouldn't have enjoyed it.

Another was, Jaune was mind-controlled. This one had some promise- Jaune was going to be a puppet for the Real Gamer, who'd have been an evil baddy who was manipulating Jaune for his amusement. Jaune gets brought into the mechanics of the gamer, without the perks, while being a semi-free-willed thrall under the control of the Gamer. Story would have tried to end with the evil Gamer being defeated, and Jaune freed, but keeping the looser mechanics (basically the stat-growth from training, and health/mp recovery stuff) as his semblance. You might have enjoyed it, but after ten hours I didn't have a plot in mind, and I was sick and tired of it.

Third one was this, in which Jaune's not the Gamer, but is a gamer, and The Gamer is still involved in the plot. And it's shit.

Moral of the story? This is what an overly restrictive prompt looks like. I really do think this was the worst prompt- not just fill, but prompt- of our entire game so far.


	33. War Corgi

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt –

Beacon was a dangerous place, and when the lights went out it only got worse. But that was why he was there... to protect them from the foes they didn't realise existed.

He would protect his masters!

For he was Battle-Corgi Zwei!

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War Corgi

The story begins with the arrival of Zwei to his new home. A gift from Uncle Qrow to a four and six year old Ruby and Yang, Qrow bids Zwei to take care of them. Zwei does so very diligently.

What follows is a series of cheerful, simplistic vignettes of Zwei the War Corgi, defender of children, as seen from the perspective of Ruby and/or Yang. Zwei fights the rumble-demons and brings food, only to be rewarded in sharing with the feast! He chases his fellow canines in circles, jealousy hoarding Yang himself! He drags Ruby, wrapped in her mother's cloak, though the cleaning pond! All while avoiding the attention of the sleepy dragon who rules the kingdom!

Written in near elementary level writing, the children tell the tale in letters to Uncle Qrow. What you see is a charming story of an overprotective corgi doting on children.

What you're actually reading is horrible, even horrifying, story of child neglect during Taiyang's bad period. The cleaning pond? Ruby fell in, and nearly drowned. The fellow canines? A pack of wild dogs. And the feast? That wasn't people food- that was Zwei's own dog food. Taiyang can't be called a bad father- he'd actually have to do something to be called a father at all- but Ruby and Yang are too young to comprehend it, though Yang understands something is wrong. Yang's last letter is the one about taking Ruby to go and find Yang's mother.

It transitions to Zwei's perspective- which is much the same comprehension level as the other letters. Zwei accompanies them- Zwei curls up with them to keep them warm during the nights, and finds edible berries and such during their trip. Zwei is, frankly, the only reason the girls survive- and when the Grimm approach, Zwei faces the delimma of all animals. Grimm don't attack animals, only people- but Zwei none the less bares his fangs against the Beowolves. He's rewarded for his efforts with a severe injury- but buys time for Qrow's arrival. The girls are hysterical in fear at Zwei's injury, and Qrow makes a desperate gambit- unlocking Zwei's aura. Zwei stabilizes, and licks the girls to comfort them.

The story returns as Qrow brings the children back home. Taiyang- the sleeping dragon- has been stirred from his complacency, but Qrow is furious about the neglect. Unable to have a full-out fight while the girls are there, Qrow takes them and leaves- and leaves Zwei. If Taiyang can shape up enough to care for Zwei, then maybe- maybe- Qrow will consider bringing the girls back.

Zwei wants the girls back too, so he starts pushing and prodding Taiyang from his stupor. Forcing him out of bed, barking to get his attention when he dazes- and giving him cuddles as rewards when Taiyang does a task. It's really not clear who's taking care of who more.

Eventually Taiyang gets a letter from Yang- who doesn't understand the issue, but misses Zwei (and him) and wants to see them. Maybe Yang tries to come home on her own, without Qrow. War Corgi Zwei and the no-longer-sleepy dragon Taiyang have a quest, find the girls, maybe rescue them from a burning bullhead or something, and in the process Taiyang is able to prove himself ready to look after the children again.

The story ends with Zwei the War Corgi giving a ride to Ruby as she prepares to wake and fight the sleepy dragon. It's the same sort of childish simplicity as the story began- but this time the metaphors are for a happy and functional household, rather than a neglecting one.

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Coeur's Impression:

I liked this one for the unusual perspective it offers. I know the show has (and always knew) it would go and suggest Taiyang was a loving father, because it's a simplistic show, but all the early evidence pointed otherwise. People often ask me for it, and I have a list of like ten things - but here's just a few for those who will undoubtedly hate.

1) Yang actually feels it's worth running away to be with a mother who left her, than stay with her father.  
2) She actually feels its worth risking Ruby to do the same.  
3) Even when they are found missing, it isn't Taiyang who finds them but Qrow. If their father is a hunter, why couldn't he track them, he was closer to their tracks, etc...  
4) He mails Zwei (yes the dog lives because of comedy effect), but even Weiss and Blake comment on that being dangerous. Yang's response "oh he does it all the time"  
5) Ruby was trained to fight by Qrow, despite her own dad being a hunter teacher  
6) Yang says her father broke down in her reflection  
7) Ruby and Yang always talk about their mum, but never their dad

Just a few of my many points, but there you go.

Anyway, I liked the childish viewpoints, the metaphors, the symbolism. But also the desperate attempt by Taiyang to redeem himself, it was nice. Zwei as the viewpoint is a sweet and innocent way to look at it. It's a decent idea, but it is obviously more a gimmick than a story.

That doesn't necessarily make it bad though.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

The end of our special, and the only one I'd tentatively call 'good.' Yeah, it subverts the prompt a bit- I actually didn't notice the 'Beacon' qualifier until I'd already written it- but it's surprisingly good considering the prompt itself is built around the gimmick rather than a story.

There's not much to say. This is an unflattering look at how bad Taiyang could have been as a father, while helping bring him back to someone worth being one. A protective animal like Zwei could have been a gimmick in Beacon, but was a real guardian for children. Pity I had no clue about how Taiyang could earn his redemption.

And... that's it. Like I said, not much to say. Thus ended 'special catchup' session, in which I got out a bunch of really bad fills that I'm too honest to delete, but didn't want to waste a week posting.

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Author Note:

Quick- tell me what the following things have in common?

Conflicted Loyalties

The Bee's Knees

Dating What Daddy Hates

Adam Arc

He Be Lion

If you guessed 'Faunus Theme Week', you'd be correct! Coeur thinks you all deserve some excitement and expectation build up. Me? I think you deserve pity for having read through these last few fills of mine. Consider these your teasers for next week.

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Title: Conflicted Loyalties

Summary: Blake wasn't happy with the direction the White Fang was taking, but instead of take matters into her own hands she turned to the only person she still trusted. And history was changed forever.

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Title: Bee's Knees

Summary: Yang might float like a butterfly, but at least it's not obvious. Not like her three-quarters faunus half-sister. Not all faunus are cute little mammals, you know...

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Title: Dating What Daddy Hates

Summary: Weiss needed a date for an important meeting between the Schnee family and some big-shot new customers. Blake needed some free-time to read her next Ninjas of Love. Sun wasn't sure what he needed, but it sure as hell wasn't this!

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Title: Adam Arc

Summary: Adam was an orphan. The Arcs wanted a son. Then Jaune was born.

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Title: He Be Lion

He could lie about his scores, he could lie about his family, but he can't lie about what he is. Can a lion faunus who didn't even earn his way into Beacon find a pride of his own?


	34. Faunus: Conflicted Loyalties

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt –

Actually, today's not my prompt either. Please welcome our second guest prompt, from querty09!

querty09's Prompt- Blake does not quit the White Fang before going to Beacon.

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Prompt:

Blake does not quite the White Fang - User Suggested

Initial Thoughts : A nice one I felt, there's two ways you can go with this. the whole "before coming to beacon" bit could mean you choose to still have her go to Beacon, but be a spy, earning conflicted loyalties and the like.

Instead I decided to subvert it a different way, by assuming "she doesn't quite the white fang before coming to beacon" as meaning "and as a result, she doesn't leave the WF and go to beacon."

Title: Conflicted Loyalties  
Summary: Blake wasn't happy with the direction the White Fang was taking, but instead of take matters into her own hands she turned to the only person she still trusted. And history was changed forever.  
Characters: Blake, Adam, RWBY, Cinder

Prologue

Blake and Adam coming back from train from prologue, Blake is very distressed about something - and Adam can tell. They report back, in which Adam does all the talking, before he drags her to his room and asks what's wrong. Blake explains all her concerns - and Adam listens. Come the end he sighs and explains that he doesn't have no heart, nor does he like killing people - like those who died on the train. He manages to convince her to stay, saying that things won't change for the better unless someone does something. But that like the White Fang trying to change the world - she could change the White Fang, but only if she stays within it and climbs to the top.

Blake agrees, and history is altered.

Arc 1 -

Skip ahead a little. It is the introduction (that we never see) between Roman/Cinder and the White Fang. Blake is tense and doesn't trust either of them, and is pleased/vindicated when Adam completely agrees with her. Saying the two of them will need to watch them to make sure nothing goes awry. Still, the plan for now is sound and when Blake asks what their next step is (as themost proficient and successful team in the WF) - Adam says they will be relocating to Vale. They'll have a cover story there, and act as visitor's for the Festival.

Blake says she can wear a bow to hide her ears, while Adam takes the easy route and just takes his mask off. "You know, if you wore a mask all the time like me then hiding your identity wouldn't be so difficult Blake."

A little exposition on their relationship. They are closer now than they were before. Blake opened up to Adam, and he appreciated her faith in him - and time has brought them closer s partners. She is still distressed over rising military action, but accepts that Adam disagrees - just as he accepts her concerns, and does his best to limit the violence he causes.

They are at peace with one another, even though neither is fully happy with the arrangement.

Arc 2 - Clash with the locals

Blake is at the docks with Roman. Adam isn't there - he has a different mission / Blake said she would because out of the two she is the less likely to snap and cut Roman's tongue out. The docks incident still happens, despite Blake not having run away - just say RWPY (Penny, transfer student) saw the explosion and investigated.

Blake is better trained now, thanks to constant combat missions and Adam's help. But even she cannot defeat an entire team of four. She is hurt, and Roman abandons her to save his own skin. Blake escapes by throwing herself into the ocean.

Arc 3 - Convalescence (means recovery from illness)

Adam treats Blake after he rescued her from the ocean. He shows concern for her, which embarrasses her a little. The two now firmly hate Roman for his actions - but Adam comments that the leadership still wants him as an ally. Adam says they have time off now from missions while she recovers, and surprises Blake by suggesting them go out to relax.

Blake asks why in surprise, since he hates going out in human populated Vale without his mask - Adam shrugs but says she has looked worse lately, more distressed. he's willing to put up with the stress for her sake.

They go out, simple stuff - show more racism in this fic than usual. it's so underdone in the show, so I would want to show real hatred towards Adam (blake disguised ofc), basically the goal is to show the reader just how s*** life is for them. As it must be bad in the show for the WF to form - but the worst we ever see is school teasing. WEAK.

Blake and Adam come across Yang - who through some series of events ends up kinda forcing her friendship on Blake, despite that Blake recognises her as an enemy. Adam shrugs in a "your call" manner, and against her better judgement, Blake exchanges scroll details and agrees to meet up for a girl's night thing later down the line.

This arc would be a longer one, as Blake's relationship with RWBY JNPR is built and fleshed out, creating conflict between her loyalty to the Fang, and her new friends - who live the true hero dream she wished she could boast. Instead she is trapped in shadows. Distressed and after a few chapters she opens up her fears to Adam, and he comments that they are both burdened in shadow, before kissing her.

Arc 4 - Rising Tensions

White Fang activity grows, they are sent on more missions - and must do crueller things. Blake has to kill Tukson herself, and is spotted by Velvet - who she badly hurts but fails to kill. This draws Beacon attention on them, and her conversations with her friends are stilted because all they talk about is Vel's injury - and how much they hate the WF.

Meanwhile Blake and Adam's relationship deepens. it is close, but desperate. The both of them seeking comfort in one another, because they have so little of it in life. Blake recognises the desperation and thinks it is a bad sign of a relationship, but cant bring herself to break it off - because desperate or not - she enjoys it, needs it almost. He is the only thing that makes her smile.

She realises that she will never achieve her dream of reforming the Fang, and that win or lose she has to be on one side, either with them - or against them.

Arc 5 - Mt Glenn

Mountain Glenn occurs, and Blake and Adam are there. There is the battle as usual. Blake actually fights Yang, rather than Neo - and is able to beat Yang after a tense fight. She doesn't know what to do afterwards, since Yang is injured but her friend. Blake hesitates, with Gambol Shroud raised. It is this that Raven sees, as she cuts Blake down, knocking her unconscious and wounding her. And when Yang awakes, it is to find her new best friend, dressed in WF gear, bleeding at her feet.

Yang captures Blake, needing answers and feeling betrayed in equal measure. Weiss and the others see Blake, and Weiss turns on her - saying they should either hand her over to Ironwood, or dump her off the side of the train like the others. Ruby is aghast saying that would be murder, but Blake points out it's no less than what Blake has done.

Blake is taken to Beacon, where she is interrogated by Ozpin with RWPY there. The interrogation is hard on her, leaving her equal parts distressed and in pain. Their friendships are completely fractured and she feels lost. She desperately wishes Adam was there - knowing she is trying to use him as an outlet for every negative emotion, but not knowing any other way to cope. She feels she has nothing, other than him and their relationship. it's the only thing she can call her own - even if it's a self-serving and almost cruel relationship.

Arc 6 - Assault

Adam assaults Beacon, going against orders as he attacks the stronghold of Vale to try and rescue Blake. He manages to make it to her cell, battered and bruised and covered in blood - much of it his own - but not all. Blake sees him, standing there in blood and darkness, and does not feel distressed at it. She realises that to others, she perhaps looks the same. A monster masquerading as a person.

She hugs him, kisses him, and together they flee. RWPY try to stop them at the docks, Yang appealing to Blake's friendship with them to return. That they can fix things, and not have to be enemies once more. Blake hesitates - and to her shock Adam says the choice is hers. She should do what she thinks is right for herself - not them.

Blake turns away from RWPY, apologising but thanking them - and saying they will always be her friends. She chooses Adam, but curiously... she does not say she chooses the White Fang.

Arc 7 - Turn

White Fang combat intensifies. Raven and Cinder are leading the WF together to try and take over Vale, and Blake and Adam are in the command centre with them. Beacon sends teams of hunters to try and infiltrate, cut the head from the snake as it were. And Blake is made to fight RWPY with Adam by her side. The battle is long and hard, but together they manage to succeed. Their teamwork is too good, their skills too refined.

Raven gloats over the victory, saying that a new age will come. She commands that Yang be taken to the cells, while Blake is to kill the others. Yang screams her anger, but Raven knocks her down - saying they will have words later. Blake strides towards the downed team, watching as Ruby looks up in horror and grief, Weiss in desperate anger - Penny, just sad to have lost a friend so.

She turns to Raven, and says no.

Raven bristles, and makes to draw her katana, only for another to erupt from her chest. A red katana.

Raven staggers, asking how Adam could betray her, after all she did for him. Teaching him, supporting him. Adam comments that it's true, and that he loved her like a mother. And would have followed her forever.

"Then why?"

"Because you turned your blade on someone I loved more."

Raven looks at Blake, who she cut down to save Yang, and sighs. She falls, saying that she thinks she maybe understands. Then dies.

Without Raven, the WF's wormholes, that they were using in the attack fall - and they are defeated.

Arc 8 - Resolution

Ozpin is discussing with Ironwood over what happened - that RWPY were able to kill Raven. Ironwood, suspicious asks how Ozpin was able to find and overcome her, since she was known as a powerful huntress. Ozpin reveals that he had two double agents he placed in their midst long ago - than he called on.

Adam and Blake walk in, who he introduces. Ironwood calls him a liar, saying that he knows how wanted these two are - but Ozpin shrugs, saying they had to do terrible things to secure the trust necessary, and really James - as you always say, the ends justify the means.

Ironwood won't believe him, but comments that he can't refute it can he - not now that ozpin is considered a hero for stopping them. Ozpin smiles, commenting that it's an awkward inconvenience, but yes. Ironwood snarls but accepts it, asking what happens to them now.

"Why, they join their peers at Beacon of course."

Ironwood leaves, angry.

Adam asks if Ozpin is sure, saying that the General isn't wrong - they've done terrible things. Ozpin simply smiles however, and says that they have all made mistakes in life. But that it's how they choose to live with those mistakes, and the decisions they make that determine their true worth.

Adam and Blake leave, and discuss their relationship. Adam wants to call it off - saying she no longer needs him as she can be free. Blake disagrees, kissing him and saying she stopped needing him, that was true. But suddenly found that once she stopped needing, she started wanting instead.

The scene ends with Yang running up and teasing them, showing that things will work out between the friends, even as Adam smiles and shakes his head, thinking that after all they've been through life at Beacon might end up boring. As Ruby and Weiss come up, Ruby jumping on Blake, while Weiss being all clearly Tsundere - Adam tilts his head..

Or maybe it won't be he laughs.

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C.F.'s Impression:

It's different from Coeur's usual fare, I'll give it that. And in a good way.

Starting from the top- Blake's adherence and sticking with the White Fang is done for good reasons, and for something believably enough in character. Adam's callous, but not heartless, and it's enough to believe that Blake would stick with a little longer- and having passed the moment of defection, keep sticking.

I like how Adam's changes are more gradual, and the relationship dynamic with Blake. It's not rushed, and so while it's different from canon it's more organic. Adam becoming indulgent for Blake and defering to her is a good interim stage in their relationship. Putting her above the White Fang- that's the real question, but with development and the near-scares of before, I'll buy it. It definitely fits the theme of Blake being the conscience of the pair and instigating most things.

Even so, I think the weaker part of the story comes from Blake managing to be friends with RWBY. Yeah, Yang is the right person to force friendship- but even so, the 'conflict' between friends and Fang comes across as weak and forced. Why is Blake feeling it? What do RWBY and JNPR do to make her care even half as much as the goals of the White Fang? Blake's been changing Adam, but Adam's been changing Blake- and yet Blake seems to have her canon involvement/interest in the team, despite being insincere from the start. Likewise, RWBY being oh-so-inviting, despite the betrayals...

I really don't feel it. It's not bad, but just not my cup of tea.

Still, overall, a good story. Blake and Adam fans would enjoy

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Coeur's Reflection:

There was actually a third way of doing this that came to my mind half-way through. A comedy short series where it's actually Adam who goes to Beacon instead, and gets saddled with three dramatic girls to his horror. But in the end I just fancied something more serious, as I've done a lot of comedy lately, so this came out.

The actual direction of the story works pretty well. It obviously misses out a lot of interaction between Blake and the main cast, which is why they needed to be brought in early - as both friends to Blake, but enemies with disguised-Blake. JNPR are sadly just ignored, because let's be honest - they aren't needed in this story in any real way. RWBY and JNPR don't travel around together outside of Beacon, and JNPR never hunt the White Fang with RWBY, so any chance for interaction would need to be really ... convenient. Deus Ex anyone?

My biggest complaint about this, and it's less a complaint and more something that would just need to be kept in mind for a full version. Is that the reasons and the how, of Blake becoming friends with Ruby and Co - was vague. Of course it was, this is a time limit exercise, so i couldn't think of one in the short time I had. But in a full one you would need a really good meeting, something to justify yang just up and going "Hey, let's be friends!"

Maybe it could be Blake and Adam at Junior's bar, and when Yang starts "another" fight, Blake decides to help her - just to spite Junior for some racist comments. Which leads to yang dubbing Blake her "night-out partner!" Whatever the case though, the growing friendship between them all would need to be handled well. it's meant to be Blake's relief - her little bit of normality outside the White Fang.

The entire theme for this is Conflicted Loyalties, as in the title. There's the super obvious one. With Blake being against her new friends - but there's also the loyalties of Blake being with Adam. Because as she spends more time with her new friends, she finds herself sometimes happier than she is with Adam. Then there are the conflicted loyalties between her morals and the WF - and the WF and Adam. And finally ADAM's between his boss/mentor and the WF vs Blake.

There are a lot of conflicted loyalties, and in a summary like this I can't go into detail on all of them, but once more - a full fic should explore each and every one.

Another aspect is Adam - I cannot give all that much "character" in a summary, and again he needs to grow as much as Blake. From a man who would kill for his dreams, to one whose dreams slowly change, because at the end Blake needs to be more important than his dreams.

It's amazing how much Blake staying with the White Fang would change things, so i really liked this prompt to be honest. It might be tough to write for someone who wanted to take it, namely because it heavily focused on two characters, so you would need a good handle on their personality. But also because all the conflicted loyalties, and angst that would come from it - would be hard to write.

Also it's hard to write what is a VERY unhealthy relationship. Right up until the end, it is meant to feel brittle, desperate. Selfish. It's not meant to ever be love, until maybe Blake starts to feel deeper when he rescues her - finally admitted at the end, when Adam chooses to save her, and she chooses to stay with him at Beacon.

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Author Note:

And here's the beginning of faunus week.


	35. Faunus: The Bee's Knees

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Prompt: The Bee's Knees – Yang might float like a butterfly, but at least it's not obvious. She has it easy- at least she's not three-quarters-faunus like her half-sister. Not all faunus are cute little mammals, you know.

(Taiyang is half-faunus- the bee. Past that- up to you.)

*C.F. Note: This was actually my prompt to Coeur, but Coeur gave it back to me. Which was cool, since I kinda wanted to do it myself anyway.

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Bee's Knees

Yang might float like a butterfly, but at least it's not obvious. Not like her three-quarters faunus half-sister. She has it easy- at least she's not three-quarters-faunus like her half-sister. Not all faunus are cute little mammals, you know...

Story starts with a flashback- Yang as a young student at Beacon, nervous and with Uncle Qrow and her father for her first day at hunterschool. Yang is a bundle of nerves as she goes through her day, covering for it with outgoing energy, and gets through her first day and first fight with success- her fellow students, boys and girls alike, remark on how pretty, even exotic, she is, while her light-footed boxing style from her father is remarkable for with her motto of 'flutter like a butterfly, sting like a bee.' Yang makes fast friends, and is secretly relieved that no one's noticed her implicit secret- until she catches witness of a number of students harassing an even younger child, too young to be a student.

Boys and girls, humans and faunus are heaping abuse on the victim- yelling things like 'creepy' and 'disgusting' and 'freak'- until a furious Yang tears into them with fists and kicks and tiny fury. The victim is a lady bug faunus, cowering, and when Yangs initially-friendly peers that she's attacking ask why she's defending it, Yang shouts at them to leave her little sister alone.

Yang, Ruby, and Taiyang are all insectoid-faunus- who in the social hierarchy are even lower than regular faunus for their inhuman traits. Yang and Taiyang are relatively lucky. Taiyang is a half-faunus, and a bee, and whose primary trait is bee-fuzz. Most people who realize he's not pure human assume he's some feline faunus who does dye and/or tattoos for the bee stripes. Yang meanwhile is a quarter-faunus (Raven was pure human) butterfly faunus- and she has no obvious indicators that she's a faunus at all. Though people recognize that there's something 'exotic' about her, the worst she has are vestigial wings on her back- what would be fairy wings, had she not damaged and lost them at a young age. Yang has a butterfly tattoo on the back to remind her of them, but by all appearances she's an attractive, even exotic, normal girl.

Ruby is not so fortunate. Summer rose was a full faunus, making Ruby three-quarters of a lady-bug faunus, and it's obvious just from the face: Ruby has silver-colored compound eyes and very thin lips that make her otherwise normal face instantly alien. Her shoulderblades are like the ladybug shells, and she still has the wings which Yang lost. And her joints… Ruby has arms and legs like a human, but is double-joined and often moves in an inhuman way. When she was baby, instead of crawling she skittered, elbows out and in underneath, and that's what she reverts to when she's not making a conscious effort. She also typically walks with her knees out rather than forward- this is a girl who would normally skitter, and likes to climb and crawl like a ladybug, than walk like a normal human being. She wears a long(er) combat skirt to hide her legs and the way she walks, and after so many pranks… well, she keeps her red cape with black dots and accepts the look.

Ruby is a good and sweet girl- as harmless as a ladybug- but an object of disgust and fear for humans and many other faunus alike. Even without her social awkwardness, her physical awkwardness isolates her and leaves her friendless, and dependent on the affection (and protection) of her family. Yang is the doting sister, but in the face of anti-faunus discrimination (and discrimination by other faunus) she's more protective of Ruby than in canon. While Ruby dreams of becoming a Huntress and winning respect and acceptance, Yang worries and hopes to help Ruby find people who will accept her.

And honestly- that's the focus of the story. Largely follows canon, but with different character emphasis.

After the childhood reflections, the story begins ala canon. Ruby in the dust store has some notes: Ruby (and Yang) like this store because the store owner is nearly blind and has never noticed Ruby's nature. Ruby flinches from Roman's mooks insult about her looks. When Ruby goes up the ladder after Roman, it's mentioned how she climbs the ladder like a bug rather than a normal person. Despite the scolding from Glynda, Ruby instantly likes her because Glynda makes no mention whatsoever about her looks, even as Ozpin politely steps over it. Ozpin reveals that (one of) the reasons he wanted to recruit Ruby is that Yang had tried to refuse her acceptance in Beacon, concerned about leaving Ruby alone at Signal.

During the pre-initiation parts, Team RWBY makes a different sort of impression. When Ruby gets excited over weapons to the point that she hovers in canon- she actually begins to hover, with Yang reigning her in with a caution about her ladybug wings. The more protective Yang doesn't abandon Ruby to make friends on her own. The Weiss encounter is remarkably different- Yang and Ruby both recognize Weiss as 'Schnee = Bad' from the start, and try to let her pass- but Ruby's sideways skittering knocks over the suitcases which leads to the blast, and Weiss's wrath as Ruby cringes with her eyes closed. Yang steps in, Weiss shouts back and demands that Ruby look at her- and when she sees Ruby's eyes, the argument freezes as Weiss realizes she's harassing a faunus who's afraid of her as 'Schnee.' Blake, realizing there's a faunus involved, also intervenes, and the three-way argument between Weiss and Yang/Blake continues until they realize that Ruby, scared and frightened of being the center of attention, ran off and hid.

This is how Jaune and Ruby meet- with Ruby's hood up and head down as she waits for Yang to find her, and with Jaune offering a hand and some concern. Jaune, while startled by her compound eyes, compliments them, and it's the only mention he makes of her features as Ruby comes out of her shell and the two begin talking. Yang, who came back for Ruby, stands back and doesn't interfere, and has a strong good first impression of Jaune for befriending Ruby. When Ruby and Jaune make it to the hall, rather than let them split Yang drags Jaune along, much to his flattered ego. When the night- and the bunny jammies- come along, Yang perks up when Ruby laughs, and compares Jaune's onsies to her own ladybug onsies. At that point, Yang's plan for 'her and Ruby be partners' begins to open with planning Jaune's involvement as well. Yang is so desperate for Ruby to have friends, she'll take any she can find- to the point that when Weiss does her sarcastic flirt of Jaune, Yang intervenes and deflects the interest by claiming Jaune for herself and Ruby in a way intended to keep Jaune from drifting towards Weiss and away from Yang and Ruby. It's the first of many playful flirts Yang does to encourage Jaune's friendship/interest with Ruby.

Even so, canon tendencies occur. Weiss comes over to speak to them- and Blake gets involved to defend faunus Ruby, much to Yang's approval- and Weiss's initial stumbling attempt to give the 'Dust for Dummies' book still ends up in a fight. Contrasted to canon, it's clear that Weiss is trying to apologize to Ruby, but her characteristic acerbic tongue (and the Schnee-faunus thing) makes Ruby cringe and Yang hostile. Despite Blake's defense of Ruby, Blake passes on Yang's invitation to stick around, leaving Ruby and Yang and Jaune as a group. Still, Jaune wins some points for standing by and with Ruby during the confrontation, rather than dipping out when it was awkward.

In the morning Jaune is gone when Ruby and Yang wake up, to Yang's consternation- having found Ruby a friend, she'll be damned if she loses him. Yang is more concerned about it than Ruby as she pulls Ruby along, where they find Jaune in the locker room with Weiss and Pyrrha. Again, Yang pulls the flirt card to divert/deflect/distract Jaune from Weiss- who is The Enemy of Ruby as far as Yang is concerned- and she's more successful at grabbing Jaune's interest than Pyrrha. Yang pulls Jaune away before Pyrrha and Weiss would walk away, and as she guides him and Ruby away she's sharing plans about how they'll all come to the same team.

Plans don't work so much when the Initiation begins, as the canon teams end up being the same despite varying intent. Jaune is, of course, totally unprepared and pinned to a tree. While Ruby tries to reach him in mid-flight when his danger is clear, involving the first use of her wings, avoiding the birdie in mid-air sends her tumbling out of control and away from Jaune. While Ruby's semblance-run in the forest focuses on Yang, Jaune, or Blake as the only three friendly-ish people she knows, she runs into Weiss- and spends the time cowering as Weiss takes charge. Yang meets Blake, and is pleased to see her in hopes to bring her in to Ruby's circle, and leads Blake in looking for Ruby.

Initiation happens, with different dynamics. Jaune and Pyrrha get off to a good start when Jaune, while asking questions about Pyrrha's likes/dislikes, asks her if she dislikes bugs. Pyrrha says she doesn't mind them- she has some other ridiculous fear, maybe birds- and Jaune looks forward to introducing her to Ruby. A similar thing happens with Ren and Nora, who Jaune and Pyrrha find soon after Ren's fight. Jaune asks if they dislike bugs, to which they give differing humour responses. (Nora apparently loves them- and Ren's fine so long as they're not dumped down his shirt by Nora. At which point he's very, very afraid.)

Yang and Blake investigate the cave, because Yang thinks that Ruby likes dark cool places- Yang and Blake both dance around their faunus traits and night vision, until Yang breaks it first by admitting to it. Since she'd never keep her relationship to Ruby secret, she explains that she's quarter-faunus and Ruby three-quarter. Blake sympathizes with Yang and Ruby, understanding the hardship of being even part faunus- and admits to her own faunus heritage. Yang and Blake share a laugh- Blake at how quickly her disguise ended up failing, and Yang at how Blake was trying to do what many expected Yang to do- deny and hide her heritage. Despite this, there's an undercurrent of unease with Blake when she thinks of Ruby, the ladybug.

The most important dynamic change is Weiss and Ruby. Ruby is cowed, cringing, and following Weiss's lead- and increasingly upsetting Weiss until Weiss bursts out that Ruby doesn't need to be afraid of her. Weiss, accepting that they're partners (or at least not wanting to encourage any suspicion of faunus-hatred by rejecting Ruby), shares her motivations to reform the Schnee Dust Corporation. Weiss promises to prove her sincerity by protecting Ruby, and Ruby starts to come out of her shell when she wants to prove to Weiss that she doesn't just want to be protected- she wants to help.

The fighting is much, much easier and simpler. Blake and Yang are able to tag-team the Nightstalker: Yang's fiery semblance isn't just her hair, but gives the appearance of flaming butterfly wings, and she and Blake are able to harm and collapse the tunnel on the Nightstalker. Blake's unease with bugs comes out a bit more, but she's able to hide it by aversion to Yang's fire.

As the teams reunite up north, RWBY and JNPR are able to focus on the Nevermore. Ruby volunteers to play distraction- her speed semblance entails opening her back shoulderblade plates and exposing her fragile wings, which are the source of her speed. When the Nevermore focuses on Ruby too much and trips/traps her and tries to eat her like a bug, Weiss is able to freeze it and Yang is able to throw Jaune in place to get his shield to help block blows, with a flirt of a reward for saving Ruby. Ren and Nora kneecap the bird, Blake and Pyrrha cut its wing muscles, and Yang punches it into the chasm and to its death. It's a great way to end the day- and the only thing that makes Yang happier is when Ruby is made team leader.

Classes start. Mostly Yang's perspective as she takes in the team dynamics- and she's very, very happy with how things are going. Team RWBY is basically three faunus (Yang counts herself as one) and the Schnee heiress, much to her unease but resolve to prove herself not being defined by her company. Yang trusts Blake to care and protect for Ruby, which Blake does- though she keeps a bit of distance with Ruby as well, which Yang doesn't understand.

JNPR is also a success story- at least mostly. Ren is unnerved by Ruby's more bug-ish mannerisms, but polite and very respectful about it, only asking for his personal space to be respected. Infact, Nora is probably worse- she's rambunctious, loves bugs, and plays rough enough that Yang worries about Ruby's shell-carapace or wings being hurt. And Pyrrha is both polite and indulgent for Ruby as a fangirl.

But best of all is Jaune, who Yang's taken a shine to as Ruby's first/best male friend. Yang tries, a little too hard honestly, to push the two together in whatever ways she can. But whenever Jaune's flirtatious streak rises towards another girl, Yang intervenes to try and get Jaune's focus back on Ruby and Yang. Yang's even willing to overlook/forgive Jaune's weakness, and pushes him to train with her and Ruby on the hopes of Lancaster shipping via training. Yang doesn't notice that the more she pushes Jaune, the more strained he gets.

When the Jaundice arc begins with Cardin's bullying, it takes a slightly different tone at the start. His bullying of faunus gets a much stronger response from the Faunus Defense Brigade that is Yang, Blake, and Weiss. His passive-aggressive and 'pranks' against Ruby and hurt her, but anything more threatens an overwhelming response by WBY. Hence his shift to his occasional target Jaune- as the weaker, safer, and less defended target.

Bullying goes, and Yang doesn't like it because Jaune's clearly miserable and unhappy, which makes Ruby unhappy, and Yang honestly doesn't need Ruby to be unhappy to feel the same. This gets worse when something occurs between Team JNPR that Pyrrha refuses to talk about it. Things get worse when Jaune starts putting distance between him and Ruby, and spends time with Cardin.

Rather than wait it out, Yang confronts Jaune in a heart-to-heart on the rooftop. Yang's tired of whatever masculinity hookup he has that's keeping him from fighting back against Cardin. Yang wants him to be himself, the goofy dork who's Ruby's best boy friend. When Jaune claims he can't, that he has a secret Cardin has over him, Yang exposes her back and the remains of her butterfly wings to Jaune.

Yang tells about how, when she was young, bullying made her try to hide who she was. She hid her wings, but doing so ended up damaging them and led to her getting hurt when it was found out, and in the end a 'helpful' adult tore them off of her so that she could pass for human. Yang's moral, aside for being the reason she's so protective of Ruby, is that trying to hide her weakness made it one. That's why she doesn't deny or hide her faunus heritage even if she could- even the lowest of the low of faunus is something she's found important to her. Ruby, and her family, and the friends like him who accepted Ruby.

Jaune opens up, even if it's not resolved. Jaune exposes his secret, which Cardin is blackmailing him over. Yang connects the dots and realizes that Pyrrha doesn't know Cardin knows, and that Jaune's distance from Ruby is a result of it. But Yang's intent to stomp Cardin is stopped by Jaune's other reason for why he's putting up with it- so long as Cardin is focused on him, Cardin isn't going after Ruby. If Jaune is expelled, then Cardin will return his focus back to Ruby and she'll be hurt again. For Yang, who's too protective of Ruby to risk her, it's enough to freeze her and accept Jaune's decision to endure. Grateful that he's thinking of Ruby, and a bit guilty that she'd accept it, Yang hugs him, gives him encouragement to stay strong, and gives him a peck on the cheek on behalf of Ruby before leaving.

Yang can't help directly by squashing Cardin, but she doesn't have to keep things a secret. She brings RWBY and JNPR in on Jaune's circumstances, and they're naturally all appalled and upset. Yang has to pull them back in from being too direct in opposing Cardin: when Pyrrha thrashes CRDL in a training match, Cardin's retaliation on Jaune has a visible effect on his exhaustion and stress.

The climax of the arc comes on the mission when Jaune is tasked to get rapier wasps before Forever Falls. By this point, the friends are trying to help Jaune manage by supporting him in the tasks, even if it's galling to be helping CRDL by second-party blackmail. Yang goes out with Jaune on when he's sent to collect rapier wasps- and with her agility and mantra of 'flutter like a butterfly, sting like a bee' Yang is able to save Jaune much trouble (and pain) in collecting two boxes of them. This pisses Cardin off- he wanted Jaune hurt and swollen- and when Jaune returns unharmed, Cardin throws one box in his face to set off the swarm before hiding in the CRDL room. Jaune is swarmed and stabbed, but Yang (who was watching the exchange down the hall) run up to shadowbox the wasps away.

Yang nearly beats down the door to confront Cardin, but he's unphazed and holds Jaune's blackmail directly over them- even adding in (since he overheard the second rooftop discussion) how if Jaune goes then he'll go after Ruby next. Again, this freezes Yang's wrath- but not Ruby's, who was watching Yang watch Jaune and has had enough.

Ruby, standing up to another person for the first time, won't be the reason someone else is bullied, and will stand for others even if she wouldn't stand up for herself. Ruby's crescent rose handling is as able cut the second box of hornets down, and Ruby challenges Cardin to a duel- one that Yang and her team had been protecting her from all this time, and one Cardin thinks he'll have no difficulty winning. Cardin's accepts, expecting to crush her like a bug (literally), but Ruby uses her full strength (and bug-winged semblance) to win. Cardin is humiliated, and Ruby threatens worse, and when she turns away Cardin takes one last cowardly attack from the rear. Jaune takes the blow, and Ruby and Yang turn on Cardin with a rage like nothing before. Yang subdues him, but its Ruby's threats if Cardin hurts her friends again- especially as he looks into her alien compound eyes- that frighten Cardin into submission.

After Cardin flees, Ruby and Yang turn to Jaune and worry over him. Jaune's a mess- rapier wasp stings over his face and all- but despite his self-deprication Yang and Ruby tell him he looks fine. More importantly to Yang's perspective, Ruby is literally crawling on Jaune's back like a lady bug as she hugs and nuzzles him from behind- something very familiar that Ruby normally only does with family. Jaune, rather than be grossed out by it, is clearly enjoying the affection he's receiving from the sisters, and it's at that point that Yang decides she'll try to hook Jaune up with Ruby so that her sister can have the relationship that Yang feared she'd never be able to.

Of course, Jaune will need to be built up a bit first, but that's a project Yang's happy to take on. She helps break through Jaune's machismo block, or what was left of it, to help him accept training with her and Ruby. She tries to subtly ship him with Ruby by the usual things- training, team leader planning sessions, and group outings. And during her own training sessions with him, she gives him tips on women, with things she thinks/knows will appeal to Ruby. And it works- as Juane improves, physically and socially, Yang's opinion of Jaune grows as well as he does things that would be attractive to other girls- enough so that Yang has to not-so-subtly interfere with Pyrrha's and anyone else's indicated interest in Jaune.

This is all during the Blake arc and beyond. The Blake Arc isn't so different- and definitely doesn't worry about the faunus angle- but does take a view on the White Fang, which Blake still keeps as a secret. Bottom line is, the White Fang touches on common racism that normal faunus have- mammalian faunus looking down/being grossed out by buggish faunus, and deliberations and tensions about half-faunus and inter-racial couplings, with the hint of 'race traitor' for those faunus who not only 'leave' faunus-kind for humans, but for the descendants who hide their identity. Blake's not like that, or rather she knows it's a prejudice and fights it, and by the end of the arc she's addressed her distance with Ruby and all's good.

It's like a dream for Yang- everyone's happy, everyone's getting along, everyone's on their way to being a hero, and Ruby is taking off with friends and acceptance that she's never had before. There's just one minor problem.

Jaune's falling for Yang, not Ruby.

It's nowhere near as bad as his Weiss fixation in canon, which Yang has deflected/diverted by her earlier actions intended to keep Jaune near and friends with Ruby. But that's rather the problem- in deflecting Jaune's interest in Weiss, and butting in whenever others showed interest in Jaune lest they take his attention from Ruby, she's convinced him (rather reasonably, in retrospect) that she's interested. You know, what with all that help she gave during the Cardin time, those training sessions like he has with Ruby, the advice on what women like that she's given him hintingly… basically every time she tried to group in Ruby by association.

Yang's slow to notice because what they do together, in her mind is for the sake of Ruby. It's comedic, really- Jaune resorts to the horrible flirting of canon because Yang doesn't respond to anything actually suave or less blatant- but when she realizes it she rejects him and tries to push him towards Ruby. Jaune's not so easily deterred, of course, and ignores the hints and presses it- which leads to a bit of a fight between them.

Yang's upset at his interest in her because it shouldn't have been about her- it should have been about Ruby. Yang's positive view of Jaune is built around that he treats Ruby like a normal girl- why can't he like her? Jaune likes Ruby plenty fine, but like-likes Yang. What's wrong with Ruby? Nothing's wrong with Ruby. Then why won't he date her? Because he doesn't want to. Why not? Because he likes Yang. Well, she doesn't like him. What's wrong with him? Nothing. Disbelief. You want the truth? List flaws. So she's expecting Ruby to settle for less? No, he's fine- admit basis of attraction. Then why won't she say yes, or at least tell him she doesn't like him? Because she does like him, but wants him to ask out Ruby. Etc.

The fight- though it's hardly a big one for the most part- spirals around in a circle. Yang's fixation is that she wants Ruby to be happy before she'll indulge in her own happiness. It's not even that she's opposed to Jaune- it's just that Jaune's the first/only guy who's accepted Ruby and gotten so close to Ruby, and Yang is so used to people discriminating/not accepting Ruby that she's convinced that no one else ever will. She doesn't want to deny Ruby a once in a lifetime opportunity.

What culminates the fight- the point that they actually get angry in each other- is Jaune's refusal to accept that. He thinks that Ruby's perfectly fine, despite her look, and that there will be other guys who feel the same. When Yang makes an argument she could have any guy she wanted, any time she wanted, on her looks, while Ruby couldn't and so Jaune should go with her, Jaune laughs at her- and points out that despite her looks, no one in Beacon has ever asked her out. Because, obviously, Ruby. The argument's crescendo is a mutual accusations. Jaune accuses Yang of being a bad sister for not having faith in Ruby. Yang accuses Jaune of being an anti-faunus bigot only putting up with Ruby so he could get closer to her, to have a girlfriend he could pretend wasn't a faunus.

Neither really means it, and they know it- but they can't take it back either, and go their separate ways. Things are awkward, and they aren't talking, but aren't sure how to make up for it either. After awhile, even though (or because) he and Yang haven't reconciled, Jaune invites Ruby to the dance, and Yang walks away relieved and intent on trying to apologize after the dance.

Ultimately it's Ruby who mediates. Ruby corners Yang in their room and they have a sister talk- Ruby revealing that she turned Jaune down. She knows that Jaune only asked her because of Yang, and she doesn't want what amounts to a pity date by proxy. Yang and Ruby talk, and Ruby gives her own (relevant) point of view- she's not interested in romance. Not yet, maybe not ever, and definitely not with Jaune right now.

Ruby (gently) chides Yang for her overprotective sister complex. It's something Ruby both loves- for the love and protection and support- and doesn't love. Ruby doesn't believe is the only one for her just because he's the first nice guy- Ruby hadn't had female friends either, and RWBY/JNPR changed that. There's more people than just at school, and she has the rest of her life- she's optimistic about her life. But what Ruby doesn't want is for Yang to not live and enjoy her life because of Ruby. Yang wants Ruby to be happy before she's happy, but Ruby will be happy if Yang is happy- and Ruby doesn't want to be a reason for Yang not to be happy. Ruby reveals that while Yang was shipping Jaune towards her, she was pushing Jaune towards Yang- giving the same sort of training and girl advice that she knew would appeal to Yang. The sisters come to terms, with Ruby promising to help mediate Yang and Jaune's tiff that both regret.

Yang and Jaune don't talk until the Dance night. To Yang's confusion and (pleasant) surprise, she sees Jaune in a dress ask Ruby to dance- one which, despite Jaune's awkward look and Ruby's awkward knees and elbows, both clearly enjoy. After the dance Ruby says something to Jaune, and Jaune makes his way to Yang. After an awkward pause, Jaune says Ruby had claimed a dance with her would make an icebreaker with Yang, and Yang laughs as the ice is broken. The two apologize, and Yang and Jaune talk about what she and Ruby talked about. Yang admits to her sister complex, and Jaune concedes he didn't appreciate the difficulties Ruby had- Jaune is wearing the dress because he promised himself he'd wear one if he couldn't get Ruby a date to the dance. He failed, which was why he asked Ruby himself, but that failed too and so here he is. Yang laughs.

Yang and Jaune come to terms with their mutual interest and strike a deal of sorts. Jaune offers to pace their relationship so that Ruby gets as much attention/friendship as Yang does rather than get left behind or ignored, and Yang relents and accepts Jaune's interest. Jaune's clearly more excited than Yang, who's more of trying it to see if it works out, but Jaune's consideration to keep spending time gains a fond smile. As his reward for dancing with Ruby, Yang agrees to a dance for every dance Ruby gets- and gets a surprise when she sees Jaune and Neptune trade thumbs ups, and for Neptune (with Weiss's smiling approval) go over to Ruby and ask her to the dance floor.

Jaune smugly tells Yang that while he couldn't get Ruby a date, he was able to cash in enough favors to keep her dancing all night. Seeing Ren and Sun staged and waiting, with all of Team JNPR and RWBY looking at Ruby fondly, Yang laughs and accepts Jaune's invitation to dance. As they do, Jaune's arms wrap around Yang, brushing the back scars where her wings used to be, and Jaune says she's the most beautiful girl and second cutest faunus he knows- the cutest being, of course, Ruby.

Fin.

And possibly a epilogue piece of some sort- like Jaune in formal wear, and Yang in a dress that exposes her back and butterfly scars- preparing to meet Taiyang. Jaune's nervous, and Yang reassures him, and gives a title drop about how she's already told her father that Jaune is the Bee's Knees.

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Coeur's Impression:

A quick disclaimer, this was supposed to be my prompt to do, but I surrendered - I couldn't bring myself to do it. Sure, I could see a racist angle, but the real reason i couldn't do it was this, just google it.

Kokonoe Kokero

A friend made me play it a while back, and I couldn't stop imagining Ruby like that, and I just couldn't write for all the shivers I got. T_T

So Cf took it, and god if it isn't long ha ha.

Also CF - Ladybugs are not cute, oh my God - they are evil beasts. Voracious carnivores they use their shell to protect them from harm of defending insects, while they massacre defenceless drones and eggs! And get this, they secrete poison onto their shell - and their blood is also poisonous, but they can control when they use it. Their fesces too. In fact, ladbugs will regularly poison poop onto another ladybug, kill it - eat it - then hunt down their children and eat them too!

Oh and btw, they are cannibals too - a father will eat his own young or even their eggs if he can find them...

Ahem... yes, story, right...

I liked the aspect that even among racially prejudiced groups, some can be considered even worse. It's something I too thought of, again on the insectoid angle, and I'm glad CF didn't miss the opportunity. Especially with other faunus bullying Ruby just as much.

And as soon as I got to the part where Ruby would skitter as a child, I had to draw me legs up onto my seat and sit like that. Gods, call me racist - but I too would be creeped out around an insect faunus. The moment someone's joints work in reverse? I'm gone. Also "as harmless as a ladybug" - CF clearly does not know the evil truth of these fiends.

I think the story focused on Yang was a good touch, maybe even if much of it was from her point of view. Her flirting of Jaune is probably canon, if a little "manipulator Ren" lol - but it's also nice to see Weiss trying to do something to not be seen as just a Schnee. Some might call it OOC, but the thing is we never know - because people react in different ways to different things. If someone is angry at you, you might try to diffuse a situation, if they are smiling - you might smile too. Ruby reacts with fear here, so it's not unfeasible that Weiss might try to calm her down.

There's not much to say - it's well laid out, if perhaps a little too laid out in places. There isn't much room for creative freedom if someone wanted to have a go at it, which would make it easier for someone to take.

The conflict between Jaune and Yang I did like however, especially because we can all see Yang is the one clearly in the wrong - but for good reasons. What i might liked to have seen, after Yang throws the "I could have any man" comment, is for her to really hurt Jaune by just taking another man she doesn't like, maybe just for a date - maybe for more. An emotionally-made mistake that drives an incredible wedge between the two - and would be the obvious crux for Ruby to speak with Yang and point out what she is doing wrong.

My only complaint about this would be that Ruby seems to have it too easy with Blake and Weiss (with JNPR too). I like the ending, that they all come together, but a little early conflict might have been nice, as it just feels everything falls on Ruby's side a bit much. I know it's hard, because no one wants to suggest Weiss or Blake are really racist, but perhaps a little "uncomfortable" scenes, where Blake shies back - or Weiss. I just think that the backstory of their abuse is great, especially that Yang's wings were torn from her. But that as soon as they reach Beacon, the racism seems to peter out massively, with only CRDL being the real instigators.

CF rightly went with the "even among faunus they are low" angle - and I'd have liked to see a little of that in Beacon. Maybe Ruby trying to talk to Velvet, but the older girl flinching back or refusing to. Perhaps random people bumping into her, or sneering at her. Or even just a scene where they go out into Vale, and it's really bad for her.

Either or really. But this is still a really good prompt regardless. I just couldn't take the squeamishness.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Full disclaimer- if I don't end up getting a chapter of Dead Man Walking up this week, it's because I used up half my writing time last weekend on this. Not the planning- the planning was extremely quick with broad strokes. It was the filling in afterwards where I had way too much fun. And apparently touched on Coeur's traumatic past with this one, lol. I think ladybugs are cute-ish, and grew up in a place with tons of them, but since I never ate ladybug poop they were the harmless insects for me. And unlike Coeur I wasn't trying to sexualize them either. Or think in terms of cannibal Ruby either- everyone knows Blake's the only man-eater in my mind (shout-out to Dead Man Walking there). I've also seen good, tasteful art of compound eyes that are far from grotesque, which is what I'd have been thinking of.

Overall- despite being a story in which Ruby's the most changed (physically and mentally), it's a story more about Yang and her protective nature going into overdrive. I'd wanted to make some sort of metaphormphasis analogy for the lifecycle of a butterfly for Yang and/or Ruby, but it didn't work out as imagery and would have been poor. Jaune's interest in Yang was the catalyst to help her, not just Ruby, grow from the effects of the harder life they'd had. Yang doesn't look like a faunus, perhaps, but she's been affected to.

I can agree that the rest of JNPR/RWBY is a bit indulgent of creepy!Faunus!Ruby. I just had a hard time getting them into the plot well, and the story was long enough, right? Blake's distance was supposed to be the faunus-on-faunus sort of racism- in which Blake is happy to champion/help protect Ruby the faunus, so long as she doesn't have to watch or stay too close. Think rich people who passionately defend wellfare for the poor- but wouldn't be caught dead actually in a slum or interacting with hobos. Not well communicated, but would have been resolved in the White Fang arc.

Meanwhile, JNPR- I thought about emphasizing but non-malevolent racism- the 'creeped out' stuff- but didn't figure it in the planning 15 mins. It definitely would have been Ren's aversion, and possibly Pyrrha's real feelings hid behind her polite stage face- but I was afraid it would have dominated/derailed the plot. Jaune finding out that, say, Pyrrha was squeamish with Ruby (and/or possibly a bit jealous? I was trying to get away from that) would have been a molotov cocktail in the team I thought. Or, at the very least, between Yang and the team, with Jaune siding with whichever one wasn't the 'aggressor.' In retrospect, though, it would have been a good way to tie JNPR into the White Fang investigation arc. Ren (and Pyrrha's?) creeped-out factor pisses off Jaune. JNPR has a spat, Jaune sticks with Yang and/or Ruby (I'd lead in with he wants to be with Yang, but Yang wants him with Ruby), Ruby gets a rare chance to give her perspective and why Jaune should reconcile (JNPR is creeped out, but they're not mean or cruel and still good people), and then Ren (and Pyrrha?) play a role in the Paladin fight to protect Ruby from getting squashed like a bug. Ren's still creeped out when too close but tries, and Ruby forgives (and is still a fan of Pyrrha's). Though would have worked well.

But the one character I definitely liked how I nailed was Weiss. We've seen Weiss's attitude towards faunus who join the White Fang. We've seen Weiss's attitude towards faunus who are casual rule breakers. And we've seen Weiss's attitude towards people who are overly friendly towards her or just as hostile. But we've never seen her attitude towards rule-abiding faunus who fear her- and I'd bet it'd be an arrow to that guilty conscience of the Schnee reputation. If there's one person in the cast I'd expect to fight most to get out of the box of anti-faunus bigot, it's Weiss.

So there's my thoughts. I'd like to think it hit on ideas of faunus discrimination, as well as the hierarchies that can exist even within discriminated minorities. I did want to hit how creep factor can play in even amongst good people, let alone bad, but I struck out on that one. But mostly I was hoping to hit the 'Big Sister Yang' motivation from a different angle- not the humerous or benevolent angle of always, or the stifling/entrapping care I've hit in other things, but a show of how living so much for someone else's sake can stifle you living your own.

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	36. Faunus: Dating What Daddy Hates

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Dating What Daddy Hates: Blake needed a favor. Weiss needed a way to get Jaune off her back, and other things. Sun thought he needed a girlfriend, but this isn't what he was thinking of.

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Dating what Daddy Hates

I'm going to subvert this a little bit,

Title: Dating What Daddy Hates

Summary: Weiss needed a date for an important meeting between the Schnee family and some big-shot new customers. Blake needed some free-time to read her next Ninjas of Love. Sun wasn't sure what he needed, but it sure as hell wasn't this!

Initial Thoughts: An interesting prompt, and one that might raise eyebrows because I intend to ignore a lot of the other characters sadly. So yes, it will lack much of RWBY and JNPR - this is predominantly just about Sun and Weiss.

Beat 1 -

Weiss is stressed in their dorm room, reading over the latest communique from her family. The SDC is on the cusp of making a huge business deal to acquire a new dust freight company in a deal worth 360 million lien. To finalise it however, the Schnee family has been invited to spend time with the original owners at their holiday island resort. RBY are uncertain but excited, as they realise Weiss will have to leave their team, but it's only for a week. Weiss promises she will bring back souvenirs, but doesn't really want to go. She reflects that she always felt lonely with her family, and doesn't want to leave her friends here at Beacon.

Yang comments that Weiss missed a bit, she has to bring a date. Weiss is shocked and grabs the letter reading it. There is an addition tacked on from Winter which warns that the original owners have a son they once tried to pair with Weiss - and that they might make it part of the deal unless Weiss clearly has another paramour. Winter also warns that their father would sign her away for such a lucrative deal.

Weiss is horrified, and team RBY promises to do what they can to help. There is an initial comedic suggestion of Ruby dressing up as a man, before Weiss torpedoes it. They discuss other men, such as Jaune "Please no..." Neptune "I... I barely know him, I mean he's nice, but this is too soon." Ren "Nora would tag along..."

Ultimately though Blake suggests Sun, to which Weiss is unimpressed. But Blake goes on to say that Weiss doesn't need a boyfriend, she needs an actor. A fake who can play the part for the week, and Sun is that. Yang agrees. Sun definitely doesn't like Weiss that way, he's too into Blake. So there's no risk there. Weiss slowly warms to the idea, thinking that if it looks like she has dated a faunus, perhaps the son wouldn't even want her - she would be "sullied" or dirty in their eyes. Even if she went with Neptune or Jaune, her father could still just force her to marry, or try to... better to convince the other family they don't WANT Weiss, and just let the deal go ahead on financial terms.

Beat 2 -

Sun is called in by Blake for a favour. There are some shenigans where his entry through the window p*** Weiss off, who then starts criticising every little thing about him. "He needs better clothes, we must do something about that hair."

Sun is confused for a while, until Blake explains that they need him to be Weiss' boyfriend for a week. Sun is totally against the idea, and makes that clear - to which Weiss agrees but says she needs him. Eventually the situation is explained, and while Sun is more willing to help to protect her (even if they aren't friends) - the deal is sealed when Blake promises him a serious date if he helps. "I'm not promising romance, but I promise I won't just ruin it on purpose. I'll give you a chance to impress me."

Sun is in!

Beat 3 -

Weiss and Sun drive down to a hotel by the airport, with the plane going the next day. The two are awkward as hell, and Winter comments as much when she sees them. They look like they have no idea what to do with one another. Sun sighs and admits they were rushed, but takes Weiss' hand in his own, getting an incredulous look from the girl.

"We have to play the part," he explains, and Weiss reluctantly agrees. Winter comments that his clothing won't do, but says she will send her chauffeur to get some new clothes for him that will look good. Sun is uncertain, but surprised at how neutrally nice Winter is. She doesn't like him, but doesn't seem to hate him either for being a faunus.

Winter pushes them both through some lessons on looking like a couple, with Weiss having to lean on him, sit close - and even come up with reasons and a story for why she fell in love with him. Sun has to do the same.

The flight takes place here, along with the first meeting with father Schnee and the family. Papa Schnee is not pleased with Weiss' choice of a partner, but cannot say so in front of the clients. Similarly the clients seem surprised and dismayed to see Weiss with a man - which has her internally thanking her sister, as it's clear they had plans for her.

The young heir... who we will name... uh... Azure (better name needed lol) - is friendly enough, but has an edge when he shakes Sun's hand. He offers to show them to their rooms, and the three are dismissed by Papa Schnee (god the names...)

Azure gives them a brief tour of the resort, mostly in explanation of the facilities as he shows them to their two rooms. Sun is about to enter one, before Weiss enquires as to why they are to sleep separately. Sun hesitates, before biting the bullet and saying he will just share Weiss' room with her. Azure is left looking miffed as they let themselves in.

The conflict in this beat mostly comes from how Sun and Weiss are uncomfortable with one another, and the passive-aggressive racism from the Schnee family and the clients. They do little things such as neglecting to get drinks for Sun, or cutting him off in conversation. Weiss worries about it, but is surprisingly impressed by Sun's thick skin. He simply doesn't care, and says as much to her.

"They decided to not like me from the start, so why should I care for their opinions?" It's one of the first times Weiss sees Sun as something more than he is, and his treatment also starts to foster her own resentment for how faunus are treated. She even notices that there is not a single faunus on the island.

They don't begin to fall for one another here, as much as they begin to respect one another. Sun is surprised yet touched by Weiss' defence of him, even when she risks angering her father. Weiss meanwhile is impressed by how robust Sun is, and the little things he does without asking to ensure she is having an okay time. Such as not intruding on the shower, being a gentleman, getting her drinks, even buying her some ice-cream when she is hot.

Beat 3-5 are LONG arcs, and need to be to make the romance realistic.

Beat 4

The stakes raise in this section, as the client's family actively starts to break their relationship, with Azure expressing his romantic interest in Weiss, despite her apparent being with Sun. Sun tries to play it cool by saying he can understand where Azure is coming from, for his girlfriend is a wonderful person - but goes ignored by Papa Schnee, who says he has no say in this.

Weiss argues otherwise, don't talk to my boyfriend that way we're a partnership, he has as much say in my affairs as I do in his.

Winter tries to be the big sister and protect Weiss, but is called back to the SDC when something goes wrong. Papa Schnee dismisses her as the only one who can solve it, and Winter dares not say otherwise. Winter leaves, but warns Weiss first that this smells like an excuse concocted to remove her from a position to help Weiss.

Now with only each other to depend on life becomes more difficult. There is a ball being planned, and Weiss realises they need new clothes. She gives Sun her credit card to get himself something, while she shops for a dress.

Oct 29However Sun experiences problems when the staff refuse to serve him, and belittle him as someone who could never afford their wares. He is escorted from the building, and even has the credit card he tried to show them confiscated. Some people on the street - other wealth resort-goers laugh at his dismay.

Sun returns to the hotel defeated, and won't explain to Weiss why he doesn't have a suit. Eventually however she forces it out of him, and she swears she will crush them for what they did. She wants to go right down there immediately and give them a piece of her mind, but Sun stops her.

He doesn't want to cause a scene like that, and such a fight might p*** off Papa Schnee. Weiss relents but says it isn't fair how they treat him. Sun just laughs and touches her face, saying the fact she cares so much is all he needs. Without prompting, and without needing to do it to prove anything - he leans in and kisses her.

Weiss doesn't resist, but seems troubled afterwards and won't talk. Sun fears that he crossed the line, and the two sleep in the same room but with a wall of pillows between them.

Beat 5

Matters are made worse when Azure invites Sun out on a male bonding session. Weiss and Sun realise he cannot say no as to avoid appearing rude, but that Azure doubtless plans something.

Sun goes off however, and Weiss in her frustration goes to retrieve her credit card. The Sun and Azure trip is tense, little more than angry conversation disguised as jet-skiing. For a moment Sun wonders if the brat might try to remove him in an accident, before remembering he is a hunter - and the kid is just that. Spoiled, but not murderous.

In fact when they are attacked by oceanic Grimm - it is Sun who comes to Azure's rescue, saving the boy and killing the Grimmsharks. Azure is silent as they ride back to the resort, but stiffly thanks Sun before they part.

Weiss on the other hand is at the store which abused Sun. She demands to see the manager, and asks for her card back - only or the man to say he took it from a degenerate faunus who had no doubt stolen it. Weiss right there considers freezing him, and telling him just what he did - forcing his entire business to close down.

But she recalls that Sun didn't want that, and in a sign of her growing attachment to him fights back her temper for his benefit. Simply saying that she has places to be, and taking the card. Before she leaves she buys a suit for Sun, one she idly thinks that she would genuinely like to see him in.

Stuff happens, the big ball comes - Papa Schnee reveals that there is a marriage in the cards for Weiss (I'm running out of time) - Sun objects, as does Weiss. Papa Schnee says its time to stop playing silly games with animals, and become a businesswoman. Weiss holds her ground, even when he threatens to disown her.

Ultimately it is Azure who comes to their defence, saying he doesn't want a wife who can't love him, and he won't have a wife who hates him for breaking up her relationship. He says after spending time with them both he realises just how much they truly love one another, and he wants that. He doesn't think it will ever be with Weiss though, but he will find someone who can love him on his own.

Weiss and Sun are shocked, Azure wants the deal to go ahead. Papa Sschnee relents and compromises by offering Azure a managerial position instead of his daughter. All are happy - holiday ends, and Sun and Weiss go back to Beacon.

Beat 6

The Black moment is less devastating and more bitter in this idea. The charade over, the two go their separate ways. Sun looks like he wants to say something as they part, and Weiss hesitates to let him go. They part on a bitter "So... later?" "Yes... I will see you around Sun."

Team RBY asks how it all went, and Blake asks how Sun was - a complete gentleman, without him I don't think i would ever have survived. You're lucky Blake, perhaps more than you realise.

Weiss then makes Blake promise she will give Sun a fair chance, saying he truly deserves it. Blake agrees, saying that with all Weiss has said, maybe Sun is worth more than a fair chance.

Ruby seems troubled though, able to see her partner's lack of lustre, even if the others cannot.

The dance comes about, and Sun is going with Blake - in the suit Weiss bought for him no less. Weiss watches as the two dance, remembering the times she danced with him before going back to her drink.

She realises she wants to be the one dancing with him, and cannot bare to watch him with Blake, nor bare to feel resentment for her own close friend and teammate. Rather than be a killjoy, she leaves the party.

Beat 7

A short resolution due to time constraints, etc... Weiss is out in the gardens of Beacon in her dress, just looking at the moon. She is interrupted by some noise, which turns out to be Sun (and no one was surprised).

Sun asks why she left the party, saying he hoped she would save a dance for him. She tries to make an excuse but he asks if she will dance with him how.

"Here?" She asks.

"Yeah... why not, in the moonlight."

Weiss agrees and the two dance, as Weiss rests her head on his chest. She asks if Blake will be disappointed by him doing this, and says she doesn't want to get in the way - after all the help he gave her. Sun says Blake will understand, and sheepishly admits that he called the night early - he says maybe it was the chase, or that we were both just faunus. But I don't know... I don't look at her the same way anymore.

Weiss looks up at him, as he looks down on her. He spouts some lines about their holiday, about how brave she was - how she stood up for him, to him as well. And how he found himself enjoying it, enjoying being around her - more than he expected.

He swallows and says

"The last time I kissed you... you said it was a mistake."

"I did."

"Would... if I were to kiss you now. Would it still be a mistake?"

"I don't know..."

Sun takes it as permission and leans in to kiss her lightly, though she pushes herself further into it. He wraps his arms around her as they kiss in the moonlight. Before Weiss pulls away with a small smile.

"No." She says "I don't think it is anymore."

Story Ends.

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C.F.'s Impression:

What's funny is that this is the archetype of a monochrome shipper's favorite plot dynamic: Weiss, daddy, and the faunus relationship.

Even though Coeur ignored part of the prompt and the Jaune motive for Weiss, I'm really glad he did. It's a great example of why you shouldn't let a prompt restrict you- which was my failing with those four Really Bad Ones. Here Coeur ignored the letter, kept the intent, and ran with it. It's still a 'I need to fake a relationship because reasons', but the reasons are much better, and more satisfying, than what would have been had it just been Jaune.

Am I a fan of this crack-ship pairing? No. Do I think this was well done? Yes. This is a good example of how a well-done romance beat structure can pace and help gradually develop a relationship. Even without a prior interest, I was hooked by how well the setup worked. Sure, it's been done to death in countless Weiss x Blake ships, I'm sure- a bit of rebellion and revolt as Weiss tries to defy her father with a faunus. But here I think it works better than the typical monochrome scenario for three reasons. One, Sun is a better foil for standing up to racism than Blake. Blake hides her race and resents the Schnee Dust Corp, but Sun's honestly above it and frankly dismisses the people and moves on, weathering it without apology. He's less inclined to snappy defiance or to encourage resentment- which helps here since Weiss's ties to the family are complicated, not simply uniformly bad. Two, the 'not interested' prior understanding is more credible when Sun's going along with this for his previously established love interest Blake. Most monochrome that use the 'date against father' as the romance basis ignore that sort of credibility, instead claiming friends but never having any intent on dropping the 'fake' relationship once it's real- I can't think of a monochrome ship which would have broken up after the charade so that the prior understanding (and different romantic interest) could reestablish itself. And three- I think this works because Papa Schnee is right to think Weiss is just trying to be difficult and faking this relationship. Weiss might be in the right to avoid the engagement, but Papa Schnee is right in not believing the charade.

As a final praise, I'll give credit to the OC Azure. It'd be really, really easy to have Azure be a one-note bigot and asshole and snide and everything wrong with what bad writers think a romantic rival should be. Even if you intended the 'redemption' angle at the end as some sort of saving grace. But I didn't read it like that- though maybe because I sped-read the first time- and instead of a weaker writer's 'he got out of the way of true love,' Coeur laid the foundation for Azure to actually respect Sun, rather than have a single-minded focus on Weiss alone. A lot of weaker writers wouldn't do that. Yes, there's tension. And the prospect of foul play. But Azure doesn't, and there's no proof he was intending to, and Sun shows confidence at not jumping at shadows.

So ultimately- high marks to Coeur for taking something that a lot of people would have done horribly, and doing it well.

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Coeur's Reflection:

Hmm... this one worked out okay I suppose. Sun was an interesting choice and not one I've looked at before. I had to sit down for a minute and just think of his personality and then go "Okay, what are his really good points? Okay, other than the abs."

What came to my mind was honestly his "don't give a s***" attitude. He's confident, but unlike how 99% of fanfiction writers seem to think confidence is - he doesn't run around waving his willy or scoring all the chicks. He's confident enough to know what he wants (initially) try to get it, and be willing to face failure.

He's also confident enough to take all the racism and go "Heh, I'm a great stowaway!" As College Fool says, sure Blake kind of does the same, except she doesn't. She rails against it, tries to change things - gets angry.

That wouldn't serve Weiss well at all in this situation. I've been to countless business meetings, I know how to network - and that sometimes you have to play nice to people you hate. It's easy for all the readers to say "Ugh, if it's immoral don't do it!" But welcome to the real world ladies and gents, sometimes you need to put down your "me" hat - and put on your "Boss" hat - and do what's best for the company. How do you think I, or anyone really, fires people? It absolutely sucks, but we take a deep breath, banish ourselves - and become the boss.

Anyway, this worked well for me since I could see Sun and Weiss learning a lot from one another. Weiss needs to learn to calm down really, as she's too quick to anger. She also needs to learn to kick back and relax, something I would have liked to cover in a chapter where Sun pretty much kidnaps her and forces her to have fun for the day. Similarly, Sun could maybe use a little teaching on how to be more mature - how to give off a good first impression and slow down in life.

They both come out of the experience better people in a way, and are surprised to find they actually liked it.

As for the break-up. I think it's a major cop-out when this doesn't happen. It was the plan from the start, and I always wanted them to stick to it. it wouldn't make sense to do otherwise. Sun fancied Blake, and at that point likely would still think he does. Similarly Weiss thinks it's all a charade, even if she longs otherwise.

There was a lack of many other characters here, and there almost has to be. Too many cooks spoil the broth, and honestly trying to fit eight or so other characters into this? No way... They can appear in scroll calls, at the start and ending if they must. But they just aren't necessary for it.

I'm not a fan of the pairing, or rather I wasn't at first. But now I can see it working, and can't help but think they could learn a lot from one another. Ah well, though. Such is life and as we know, Sun is a faunus - so the show writers seem to believe he must be locked to Blake. Because come on guys... faunus can't date non-faunus. Can't mix that filthy sub-human race with ours, but remember kids! Don't be racist!

GG Rooster Teeth, gg.

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Author Note:

Awhile ago we mentioned that we were trying to burn through our pre-release backfill of fills to open the way for a bit more reader input. We're getting closer to that point with the next theme week. Theme weeks won't be back-to-back after this- but we are encouraging your interest. After suggesting the first two themes myself to get things started, Coeur's taken his chance to choose our next theme weeks in two weeks:

"It's Good to be Bad" - aka 'Villain Week' - in which stories focus on the antagonists of the series for a change. Or- as the this prompt wonderfully puts it-

Coeur's Prompt: People though they were just side-class characters, people to be ignored and tossed aside. But the Malachite sisters? They were tired of that.

That not enough to get you excited? How about this: _**that is the only prompt either of us has committed to.**_ Which mean the rest? We're looking to you to come up with something good.

(Good, I say. Good! If you give us the plot, it's not a prompt.)


	37. Faunus: He Be Lion

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Jaune is a Faunus

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He be Lion

He could lie about his scores, he could lie about his family, but he can't lie about what he is. Can a lion faunus who didn't even earn his way into Beacon find a pride of his own?

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Jaune is a lion half-fanus. That's the long and short of it- he's not a mythical creature faunus, not a super-powered faunus, just a standard, mammalian, big cat faunus. He has callouses on his hands where pads would be, he has a tail, he even has the ears. Nothing special, as far as faunus go- unless you count the extra hair that's more of a mane, which makes it impossible to hide once the hoodie goes down.

Starting from the airship ride to Beacon, we see the differences that makes, which is… not much, because the hoodie is up. Sure, some people point and whisper, but compared to the battle to hold in his stomach he barely even notices it, and certainly doesn't care. From the start we see that Jaune is non-confrontational- not picking a fight over careless or rough elbows, lest people take a good look at him and realize his race. In his mind he knows it's not something he can hide forever/for long, but he'd rather avoid the nickname vomit-cat for as long as he can- the first indication of his history of being bullied for race. As long as his hoodie is up and his tail tucked in, he can pass for human easily- though a passing Blake gives him an odd glance as she passes him on the airship. Rather significantly, the news report on the TV about the White Fang protests is changed to telling us how the Council of Vale has agreed to demands made by the White Fang in opening more positions in schools and universities to faunus students.

The first butterflies start happening when Jaune helps Ruby up- Ruby notices the pads/callouses on his hand. Rather than ask why he helped her up, Ruby's curious about his hands- and why he's wearing a hoodie- and in her careless/socially awkward way breaks through Jaune's reluctance. Jaune lowers the hoodie, revealing himself as a lion faunus- which Ruby thinks is cool because Roar, and King of the Jungle, and all that. Jaune waves off that it's that good- after all, male lions don't do anything but look good because it's the females who hunt everything- but is secretly just as relieved to have made an initial friend as Ruby is.

In the auditorium, Ozpin gives his speech as per canon- but with an additional note on the presence of new students who have gotten into Beacon as a result of the Council's recent affirmative action policies. Ozpin gives a tough-love speech about how while entry may have been made easier, all students will have to earn their spot and prove their worth if they want to stay. Obvious foreshadowing towards Jaune is obvious.

Jaune makes his way to Ruby and Yang after the speech, in time for Weiss's confrontation with Ruby. When Weiss references Jaune in her 'tall, blonde, and handsome' quip, she does it without looking at him- and freezes like a deer in headlights when he walks over and introduces himself. After she recognizes him as a faunus- Jaunus gives a sarcastic quip about how, really? He's never noticed- Jaune introduces himself and asks Weiss if they can be friends. Weiss is flummoxed- unsure if he's ignorrant who she is or making a lie at her expense- and does the early-Beacon 'people should know who I am' spiel- though a bit less antagonistically than with Ruby and Yang. Here Blake enters the conversation again- a mirror/repeat of her role in Weiss and Ruby's first encounter- explaining Weiss's relation to Schnee Dust Corp. Blake is as taken aback and wondering how a faunus wouldn't know of the Schnee business reputation as Weiss is that Jaune wouldn't know her- but Jaune admits he does know the reputation, but doesn't want to judge without getting to know. Dropping the line about how his mother taught him that strangers are friends you haven't met yet, Jaune points out that they're all strangers and repeats his question to Weiss if she wants to be friends. Weiss retreats, thinking it some kind of trick to get inside her confidence for a future backstab, and the assembled (bar Jaune) watch her go with disappointment, while Jaune just waves her off and calls out 'maybe next time?'

Blake asks Jaune why he did that- tried to be friends with his race's sworn enemy- and Jaune gives a suitably idealistic answer about how they're all at Beacon to be heroes for everyone, human and faunus, right? Even Weiss. Ruby cheers about her dream, Yang smiles, and Blake gets a critical hit to the feels- all the more so when Jaune reaches out and gives her the same sort of question he gave Weiss- hey, since they're strangers, want to be friends? Caught in the moment, and for her own implicit reasons, Blake agrees- sticking with Ruby and Yang and Jaune, rather than walking away to be alone. Blake lets loose of subtle smile as Yang and Jaune make their own introductions, with Yang teasing/tormenting Jaune about why she's last- is it because she's pretty and he was nervous? Tell her it's because she's pretty.

The party of feels dims a bit as time continues, and the progressive atmosphere of acceptance dims as the lights do when it's time to sleep and Jaune goes off to find a place to sleep at what's unofficially the guy's side of the sleeping room. Jaune's friendly enough, striking up conversations when given a chance and extending that offer of friendship- but as the girls watch, they realize being a faunus is a tough sell, especially as Jaune tries to make friends with guys. Some are noncommittal and obviously uninterested- others are worse. Cardin in particular is downright cruel, for the obvious reason, even as he poses it in a mocking terms of being 'friends'- though obviously the sort Jaune doesn't want. Ruby and Yang watch with frowns, and Blake notes that it must be hard to be a faunus. When Jaune's unable to find a place to sleep on the guys side, he comes back asking if the girls can make room for him.

Which ends up being part of Weiss's issue- not just the noise, but the impropriety of a guy sleeping amongst the girls. When Jaune's inability to find a place to sleep is raised by one of the girls, Weiss is skeptical- but when the reason of 'because he's a faunus' is pointed out, Weiss shuts down. Blake throws an additional zinger- it's not like Jaune is an animal or something, controlled by his lust- Weiss is on the defensive that she didn't say that, and wasn't trying to imply it. Jaune speaks up in her defense- he doesn't believe she was suggesting that- and offers that family motto arc word and promises not to do anything indecent. Weiss, on the back foot, accepts it with a warning that she'll be watching, but takes her retreat. As Weiss leaves, Ruby and/or Yang notes that Jaune puts a lot of pride in his family, and Jaune admits to it. With the lights dimming too soft for a non-faunus to read, Jaune tells the girls a family story as a fairy tale before bed.

Come morning, Jaune's looking for his equipment and gear- and as Blake comes to and inquires, it's clear that it's been taken and moved as a bullying prank by Cardin, who moved Jaune's stuff to the locker room in a 'friendly' gesture. A pity he forgot which locker he put it in, which means Jaune will have to open each and every locker in the locker room to find it. Blake quickly volunteers to help, followed by Ruby and Yang in what Jaune jokingly calls 'Team Jaune', which leads into the locker room scene with Weiss and Pyrrha.

Jaune doesn't flirt, but opens up by greeting Weiss warmly again and assuring her that he kept his word about the previous night. Weiss knows- she watched- which leads into the icebreaker in which she introduces him to a curious Pyrrha. Jaune still doesn't know who Pyrrha is- but there's a slight difference when Jaune knows who Pyrrha's opponent was- Pyrrha's record-breaking victory was over a faunus, who him/herself would have been the first faunus to win the modern regional championship. All the hopes of the faunus were on the faunus, and Pyrrha crushed 'em. Pyrrha is embarrassed and a bit apologetic, but Jaune waves it aside as no biggie- if Pyrrha had taken a dive out of pity, the victory wouldn't have meant anything. Jaune says he respects Pyrrha's ability to be a Champion- Pyrrha becomes subdued and downcast- and then promptly asks if they can be friends. Strangers and all that. Pyrrha's mood is restored a bit, and then a bit more at Weiss's exchange with Jaune. Weiss points out/accuses Jaune that it could sound like he wants Pyrrha's friendship for his own benefit, but Jaune's denies it. Team Jaune is already filled with four people after all. He just wants what he assumes Weiss approached Pyrrha for- friends, right? Weiss is again on the backfoot, Jaune smiles beautifully/idiotically, and Pyrrha laughs and accepts Jaune's offer of friendship.

Weiss leaves- again refusing a yes/no for Jaune's question of friendship after a night to think it over- and Jaune's little audience of Blake, Ruby, and Yang are there with his gear. Jaune's a bit bashful all of a sudden as he accepts his gear, and admits that came out more confident than he felt. He begins to say something about the idea of Team Jaune- apologizing for presumption, and the start of a confession- but he's interrupted by Yang. He gets a little ribbing from Yang for calling the team his own like that- but it's not actually a bad idea. After a bit of discussion, the four agree to at least try. Ruby's still interested in Yang as partner first and foremost, and Blake's taken an interest in Jaune.

Interest becomes clearer when Blake pulls Jaune aside before the initiation. Blake suspects what Jaune was trying to confess earlier- from his insecurity, and the way he carries himself, she guesses he's not that good. She wants to know how bad he is. Does he have a landing strategy? Does he even know what aura is? Jaune shows that he does have his aura unlocked- and shares that despite his weakness, his family did teach him a little. He can make the landing- cats always land on their feet, right? He's just worried about the afterwards.

Blake gives him a promise of protection, and gives a gift of sort. Blake shows a transmitter- one capable of emitting sounds too high for a human to hear, but one which a faunus could hear. At max, it could be heard halfway across the forest. Blake says they should meet as soon as possible- using the transmitter as a guide- and Blake promises to look out for Jaune. She actually trips and reveals herself- foreshadowing/meta-knowledge- when she makes the 'mistake' of saying Jaune should stay put, stay safe, and she'll be there as soon as she can. Jaune points out that the strategy would only work one way- he's the faunus, after all- and Blake accepts the correction and tells Jaune to find her as soon as he can. Blake promises to protect him, and the two take their stations- though not without Yang offering a tease of the shiptease going on. Jaune reasserts that he can make the landing- he just has to aim for the open ground. Someone trollishly says good luck finding that in a forest.

Students are launched. Jaune isn't lying- he can make the landing. He just so happens to land in a tree, with a painful (and screaming) limb between his legs. Team Jaune hears the scream and makes haste, but Jaune's concerns are elsewhere- the reason he wanted to aim for the ground is because he's afraid of heights, and now he's the proverbial cat stuck in a tree. Can he get down before he's humiliated by being found stuck in it?

Answer is… mostly no. As Jaune hears Blake's transmitter getting closer- she heard the scream too- he ends up trying to jump and failing to. The limb he's on breaks, and he's falling dangerously, but fortunately pinned to the tree a few feet before impact. It's Pyrrha, who came when she heard the scream. Pyrrha asks if there's still any space on Team Jaune, and Jaune agrees, and the canon partnership is born. Jaune leads Pyrrha north towards Blake, whose transmitter he can still hear- though it's turning on and off oddly.

Despite the teasing of Team Jaune, its canon partnerships all around- just with a little twist by the Jaune focus.

Blake and Yang come across each other as Blake's making her way towards Jaune, afraid that he's hurt. Yang laughs at the thought that Jaune might become a ghost or something, but tags along. Blake is distracted- as if barely hearing Yang's words until Yang makes a quip/cough about her being interested in Jaune. Blake subtly turns off the transmitter as Yang claims she's noticed Blake's interest. Yang asks Blake if she's a faunaphile, or has a cat-boy fetish or something- and Blake, blushing from the teasing, denies it, though she admits is concerned/interested because Jaune is a faunus. It's at this time Jaune and Pyrrha make themselves known, having just been in ear-shot. Neither Jaune or Pyrrha make any indication they heard Blake and Yang's discussion. Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, and Jaune ultimately decide to head north- they suspect Ruby's moving south as well, but they've no real chance of finding her in the woods. Better to rally up north. Yang and/or Pyrrha thank Blake for having the transmitter on so Jaune could find them- and Blake realizes that she'd turned it off, and so Jaune likely heard the discussion.

Ruby and Weiss meet each other as they're making their way towards the scream. Ruby is happy enough with the idea of Team Jaune, and doesn't mind Jaune being a partner so long as she can have a stronger teammate like Yang or Blake (or Pyrrha?) to work out against. As per canon, she runs into Weiss when she's not paying attention. The two fight a bit- Ruby asks what Weiss is doing there- and Weiss admits she's investigating the scream. Over the course of a few scenes, Weiss and Ruby are picky at each other as per canon as they look for Jaune, but the fact that they're looking for someone who might be hurt keeps them united. Ruby ends up asking Weiss about why she's been giving Jaune such distance when he's tried to be friends. Is it because he's a faunus? Weiss denies it's about Jaune- after all, she's not making friends with Ruby, is she? But Ruby persists and pesters, because Weiss's distance is different from the acrimony she shared with Ruby, and Weiss ultimately admits that Jaune's faunus nature is a factor. Not for Weiss disliking him- again, Ruby- but for why she won't trust him. Weiss shares that the Schnees are so reviled and distrusted by the faunus for the SDC policies that they've had faunus pretend to be friendly just to get a shot at hurting them. Weiss makes a claim that her sister (Winter) nearly lost an eye for trusting such a false friend, and so Weiss doesn't dare make friends so easily- for humans or faunus, since false-friends wanting the Schnees for their own interests are the same. That's (partly) the reason Weiss had been hoping for Pyrrha- because Pyrrha was strong, yes, but because she was strong they could have been equals. Weiss's admission/reflections earn her Ruby's better opinion, and a tinge of pity, and Ruby concludes that Weiss isn't such a mean person after all. (Ruby sharing this opinion, however, sets Weiss off as she tries to shake off the moment they were having.)

Ren and Nora- no real change, though for the purpose of similarity Nora drags Ren into the cave for the 'relic.' Cue Nightstalker chase- and Nora mounting an Ursa as a get-away vehicle for her and Ren.

Anyways- the above are not all sequential, but overlap. When Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang get to the temple with the relics, they get bored waiting and wonder how they could get Ruby there faster. Yang considers shooting a shell skyward, but it'd not be seen through the trees. The idea of a noise beacon returns- but Blake's device only works for Faunus. Pyrrha asks why/where Blake even got such a thing, to which Blake is evasive. Yang ultimately suggests Jaune- lions roar, right? Big, loud, impressive. Jaune denies his is anything like that- but ultimately gets bullied into it. Just have confidence, right? It's a total flop- like Simba from the lion king when he was a child- and while loud it's utterly embarrassing, much to Yang's teasing and Blake's defense of him from said teasing.

But it's loud- and loud enough to be heard. Nora and Ren drive the noramobile north, Deathstalker right behind them, in search of help. Further south, Weiss and Ruby realize Jaune moved long ago. Ruby has the idea for the Nevermore flight. They ride, they jump/fall, and when Weiss falls Jaune catches her and saves her a bad fall- to her apparent discomfort/unease, rather than sarcasm.

Fight happens, mostly akin to canon. There's a few changes for Jaune's role- Jaune is stronger than in canon, less clutzy, but he's also more afraid. Almost cowardly. He's the first to suggest they run away, and freezes when it comes to jumping across the bridge gap, even though it's within his ability. It's not till Blake is knocked off- Blake, was protecting him and told him to run- that he gathers his courage and jumps back over and into the fray with Nora. Ultimately JNPR doesn't defeat the Deathstalker- instead Jaune leads a defense and maneuver that buys them the space for all of them to make the running leap onto the bridge, leaving the deathstalker behind even as RWBY plays skirmisher with the Nevermore to protect JNPR as they run across the chasm. Jaune suggests they flee into the forest on the north side and avoid the fight- but RWBY follows Ruby's idea and wins the day, with JNPR providing minor support. A minor butterfly effects is that, in the course of the action, Blake gets a minor injury protecting Jaune/JNPR from the Nevermore's feather-bullets.

Initiation ceremony. Canon teams. Ozpin makes a remark about the different merits of team leaders- those who fight and win (Ruby), and those who avoid needless fights (Jaune). Ozpin holds it up as equally valid approaches- pointing out the injury under Ruby's command- but Jaune clearly feels guilty about it. All is forgiven, efforts are made to move forward, and Nora and Ren get to give their impressions about Jaune as a faunus.

Nora is… well, it's played for humor, but also dabbles into the casually racist. Nora thinks it's the cutest thing (Jaune protests that he's cool), and asks questions like if he likes fish (he prefers red meat cooked rare) and if he likes milk as much as she does. Blake is aghast at the casual racism, especially when Nora starts feeling and stroking Jaune's faunus parts- his ears, and his tale, his mane. That's the part Blake interjects- explaining how those are gestures of intimate closeness amongst faunus.

Is it? Jaune didn't know- his human step-sisters did it all the time. Here it's revealed that Jaune grew up in a human household- so Blake's actually more familiar with faunus-faunus etiquette than Jaune is. Nora is apologetic- she and Ren grew up without faunus, so Jaune's the first they've met. Blake was more offended than Jaune was, and it's no-harm-no-foul, and Ren makes peace by apologizing on Nora's behalf and asking for patience while they learn. Everyone's happy, and initiation arc ends.

Begin School Arc

Classes begin. Jaune the early hero of the hour when he alerts the teams in time for class. The reasons are implicitly a consequence of racism- Jaune reminisces about a series of draconian punishments he received when he wasn't on time. JNPR shocked, and Blake is practically seething, but Yang and Ruby have no context and accept it at face value, commenting they're glad they were home schooled. Jaune makes an idle note that he was glad he got homeschooled after that- an implicit rescue by his mother from a racist institution.

The first class starts a worrying trend when Professor Port, during the speech of brave and worthy hunters, selects Jaune as the demonstrator despite Weiss volunteering. Not letting Jaune back out- which Jaune tries- Port pushes Jaune into one-on-one with the boarbatusk while saying it's a trivial task for the brave huntsman-in-training that belong in this academy. Naturally, it's a disaster- it's not that Jaune's too stubborn to accept advice, but even if he's stronger than canon he's still too weak. While Jaune managed to stop the roll, when trying to wrestle the boar over and expose it's underside he gets gored- causing Weiss to jump in and save him with her glyphs before Port can finish it off. Jaune is rushed to the infirmary before the first class is over- and it's the start of a worrying trend. It's barely a consolation for Jaune when Weiss talks to him in the infirmary later, declaring that they're even- he saved her in the initiation with the catch, she helped him- and then offering him the notes for the lectures he missed. It's the closest she comes to officially answering his standing offer of friendship.

It's not that Beacon's professors are maliciously cruel or harsh towards Jaune- Professor Port even comes by to offer his apology for over-estimating Jaune- but Jaune seems to be a student of interest for every teacher. Asked for questions which he struggles to know (Jaune gets inadvertently humiliated in Oobleck's class when he doesn't know a question 'any faunus' would know- like the battle of Fort Castle), volunteered for demonstrations (which he ends up being the dummy of mostly)… and that's not touching on what Glynda stands by and tolerates during combat training. Jaune always seems to come out with more bruises than everyone else.

And then there's Cardin. Just… Cardin. Jaune waves it off as Cardin is a jerk to everyone, but there's obviously a racial motive behind it- especially when Jaune dares stand up to Cardin's bullying of Velvet the first time it happens. Cardin backs off then- mainly because Blake follows Jaune after he did it even if she warned him against getting involved- but vows to put Jaune in his place. Velvet thanks Jaune for helping her, but Jaune denies it was because it was she was a faunus. He thinks- he'd like to think- that anyone would have done it- but Velvet sadly points out that no one else did. Jaune can't deny it- but he does notice that the other faunus in the room didn't intervene either. Uncomfortable Blake is uncomfortable.

Even though his team tries to help- and Jaune is willing to accept their help in training and classwork, comparing it to his sisters efforts to train him before he came to Beacon- it seems that the faculty has it out for Jaune. Or at least is pressing him harder than the normal students, and more students than just Cardin seem to have it out for Jaune.

Jaune gradually buckles and cracks under the stress. The days in which Jaune offered friendship to every stranger are long gone- a departure from his idealistic optimism from early on which even his friends notice. Even so, Jaune hangs in there- frequently citing his family and his need to live up to their legacy with a devoted dedication that takes a desperate tinge. Musings of a mother that begin fond take a desperate tinge when Jaune refuses to call or even think about returning home.

Through it all, Jaune's most passionate supporter/encourager is Blake. Blake's the first to bristle at implicit racism in play, the most sincere in her encouragement for Jaune to not give up his ideals, and the first to lament his fading idealism. Her support has grown since Initiation, to the point that all the friends notice it- Yang even jokes if she and Pyrrha should become partners, to stop being the third wheel. For all that it's platonic- or at least, Jaune makes no move on Blake- but it's very clear that Blake is more interested in Jaune succeeding than any of them. Despite this, it's not actually clear how close they feel towards each other- Blake gives no jealousy vibes and encourages Jaune spending productive time with anyone, and Jaune accepts Blake's encouragement the same way he does everyone else- and a bit less fondly than Pyrrha, who's training him in combat. It's an odd, confusing relationship for the rest of the friends to watch, which is to say Yang can't stop wondering.

This school/Jaundice arc breaks from canon during a particularly hard week of classes and bullying. This is the week that Cardin pounds Jaune to the ground with extreme prejudice. It starts with Jaune being provoked beyond reason- just from being called a Bastard and some insults to Jaune's mother- but Cardin's beatdown is so over the top that even Glynda steps in, and Blake thrashes Cardin in the very next match. Despite that, Jaune's no happier- in fact, he doesn't talk to Blake at all in a case of unclear reasoning- and to try to help Jaune relax Team JNPR goes to the city. RWBY does not come because of Jaune's tiff with Blake- Blake's upset/concerned, but the rest of RWBY cautions her to let Jaune have time with his team. Yang in particular points out that Jaune's probably upset that Blake showed him up so badly by beating Cardin- instead of making Cardin look bad, it made Jaune look even worse. Best just to give Jaune some space to cool down. Blake pretends to accept this and goes to the library… from which she sneaks out and makes her way to Vale.

While out in town- and seeing the preparations for the Vytal Festival- JNPR stumbles into Penny. Literally. Penny is posting missing person fliers, and asks for help. Despite being worn and not wanting to be bothered, Jaune (with a bit of nudging from Pyrrha) agrees to hear Penny out, giving the magic words of strangers and friends… which Penny finishes for him, knowing them already. Penny celebrates making her second new friends, who asked her to post these fliers. Pyrrha takes a closer look at the missing person flier, and gasps.

Blake is also going around Vale, looking for Jaune and Team JNPR. Blake's not sure what she intends to do- needs to do to make up for the tiff- or even can do to help Jaune- but she feels she needs to be the one to do it. In her musings, she comes across a blonde human woman desperately proffering the missing person poster, but being ignored by the crowd. Despite having her own person to look for, the woman's desperation- and her please if anyone has seen her son- draw Blake over to talk to her. At the very least, she can keep an eye open. Talking to the woman, she looks at the poster-

And sees Jaune.

The human woman claims to be Jaune's mother, and tells Blake her story. Jaune ran away after a fight, and the family hasn't seen hide or hair of him sense. Jaune's mother clearly regrets the fight and is desperate for any sign of Jaune and takes relief in Blake's recognition. Blake isn't everything she hoped for, though, because Blake starts putting together things Jaune has said- about his motivations for having to prove he's worthy of the family and his complex about his mother- and Blake suspects that there was more to the fight than a few careless words. Jaune's mother won't elaborate, and so Blake refuses to divulge Jaune's location. When a fight nearly breaks out- Jaune's mother is stronger than her, and won't let go- Blake takes a shot in the not-so-dark when she accuses the (human) woman of not being Jaune's real mother. The shock, like a slap in the face, lets Blake escape.

Blake returns to Beacon, after she's made sure she shook Jaune's mother, to find that JNPR is there as well- as soon as Jaune saw the posters, he retreated from Vale and has been alone on the rooftop ever since and not talking with anyone about what happened. Blake thinks she knows, and goes to speak with him.

Long story long, Blake touches a couple of raw nerves and learns she's mis-read Jaune. Blake's effort to sympathize with Jaune over the systemic racism in the school runs into Jaune's difference of opinion of the nature. Jaune's dark secret isn't faked transcripts- it's that he only got into Beacon through affirmative action. Which was admittedly an open secret of sorts, but it gives a non-racist reasoning for a lot of the troubles he's been having. The Teachers aren't discriminating on Jaune because they hate his race- they're trying to give him a chance to prove himself as worthy as everyone else, even though he isn't. Blake and Oobleck go easy on Jaune, wanting him to be a heroic rolemodel for faunus everywhere? Jaune prefers Weiss and Goodwitch's acerbic evenhandedness- at least with them he knows he's earned any good word. And if they don't have any, it's because he didn't earn it, just like he didn't earn his place here- even Cardin actually earned a spot. Jaune got in because terrorism works, and it created a reform of racial pity for the undeserving.

And if there's something that Jaune hates depending on, it's racial pity. And Blake is just full of it.

Jaune's cracking under the strain here, and Blake's attempts to be understanding only fan the flames. Jaune's lashing out, and not entirely without cause- Blake's interest and concern for him is, at the end of the day, entirely because he's a faunus. Not only is her political ideology defined by 'faunus rights', but she's not shown a similar sort of concern towards any other human. The fact that there are no humans as bad as he is doesn't challenge the point- Jaune is certain if he were more human, she wouldn't care about him. Even as he knows he depends on her help, Jaune resents her paternalism, how she treats him like a project to be her ideal faunus. Like a _pet_.

Jaune is ranting, and Blake's upset- a bit angry, but mostly hurt by how Jaune thinks she sees him. The more she tries to claim commonalities, the more he rejects any- not the idealism of what hunters should do, rising above racial divide. At a loss, Blake pulls her trump card to prove that they have commonality, and reveals her super amazing secret that no one reading the story would ever have guessed.

Blake is actually a faunus! Le shock!

More surprisingly- Jaune isn't moved. In fact, it opens up a new anger, a new angle of resentment. Jaune rejects Blake's claim that she understands what he's going through. Ridiculing the idea that all faunus have it the same, Jaune points some relevant difference. Blake was able to earn her way into Beacon in her own right, unlike him. Blake has been able to pass herself off as human all this time, unlike him. And Blake is still only giving a damn because he's faunus- and if there's a second thing Jaune hates, it's the idea of faunus solidarity. That's what those monsters in the White Fang think.

Jaune's unleashing it all on Blake, all of his anger and frustration and despair. Blake thinks she knows what he's going through? That they're similar because they're both faunus? She may know the feeling of being rejected by humans for being too faunus. But she knows nothing about being rejected by faunus for being too human.

Blake is shocked. You're a halfbreed, she says before she can stop herself.

Jaune gives a wry grin. Halbreed. That's right- half faunus, half human, the worst of both and the best of neither. And a bastard born of an affair to boot. Still think they're the same?

Blake leaves, returning to her room in silence. When RWBY asks if she was able to fix things, she says no- and she realizes she never was able to bring up his mother in town.

On top of the roof, Jaune comes down from his venting. He's already regretful, but parts of it needed to be said. He just hopes he can apologize- but before he can follow Blake, a nasty chuckle makes itself known. It's Cardin, and what a delight it was to hear all that. Jaune being an affirmative action case was almost an open secret. And Cardin doesn't really care about half-bloods. But Blake being a faunus? Think of what might happen if that went out. Fortunately Jaune is his favorite faunus…

(Got way too dragged into this. Speeding up.)

The blackmail arc is shorter, or at least different. Cardin can't claim Jaune's time or friendship after everything, but he can still exploit him. Friends notice, but can't interfere since Jaune won't say what's being blackmailed. Jaune and Blake are unreconciled. The climax at forever falls has a similar resolution- Jaune saving Cardin despite everything- with a key highlight. Overwhelmed by many Grimm, Jaune has to call for help while he stands over Cardin- and to do that, he lets out an epic lion's roar that echoes across the valley. It stuns the Grimm, shocks Cardin, and the girls all come and save the day- and at the end Cardin is still stunned and Jaune threatens him against ever using the blackmail against Blake.

(As a point- Jaune's roar stunning people is actually his semblance- he can choose who it affects or not, and anyone who's unprepared gets stunned.)

Despite this, Blake and Jaune aren't reconciled, much to Yang's frustration. Things that were said can't be taken back so easily, especially when parts of it were true and sincerely believed. Blake's shooting glances at Jaune, Jaune's avoiding them, and while people are relieved that the tension with Cardin has toned down. Yang worries about her favorite ship (as she teases Blake about getting too close to Jaune), and Weiss takes it upon herself to help clear the air. RWBY conspires to force Jaune and Blake to talk together- ultimately kidnapping Jaune into Vale (where they aren't aware of the Wanted Posters, still a secret with JNPR) while taking Blake separately for the Vytal Festival greeting.

Things are awkward, but with much prodding the two begin to interact, even as Jaune tries to keep an eye out for Penny and his mother. They meet Sun, which starts the Weiss-Blake argument. While Weiss clamps down on the more blatant faunus tones, courtesy of Jaune, she's still hard on Sun for being a miscreant and rule-breaker. Jaune agrees with her- much to her surprise- because of his own experience/perception of being caught in the collective stigma of rule-breaking Faunus. Blake protests- and possibly a bit hurt that Jaune is siding with Weiss over her- and this leads into the White Fang escalation. Jaune is even more passionate in his hate of the White Fang than Weiss is- another surprising commonality- and this definitely hurts Blake. As the argument picks up- and repeats parts of Blake and Jaune's earlier fight about faunus who think they know what's best for other faunus- the rejection of White Fang as ever having been good becomes the climax point when Jaune passionately swears he hates the White Fang for murdering his father. Blake's denial that she had anything to do with it becomes the accidental confession, and she flees.

The chase after her gets complicated by Penny, who recognizes Jaune and tries to grab him. Penny's efforts- on behalf of her 'friend' Jaune's Mother- lead to a separate chase in which Ruby and Weiss are separated from Jaune and Yang. Ultimately Jaune realizes he's trapped in Vale because his mother is staking out the airship ferry to and from Beacon- where she encounters Weiss and Ruby at late evening. Between Weiss and Ruby, and Yang and Jaune in a cafe, Jaune's issue with his mother is developed.

Jaune is a half-faunus, insultingly called a half-breed. In a world where humans who love faunus are called animal-fuckers, and faunus who love humans are called whores who roll get off on human oppression, it's not a fun place to be. Jaune was born when his unfaithful Father, while away on a mission, had an affair with a faunus who gave birth to Jaune. Jaune's father took responsibility but tried to keep it a secret, not even giving his name to his second family. When the faunus mother was killed when Jaune was five, from fellow faunus discrimination, he sent Jaune home to his human family.

Jaune's relationship with his human mother is very strong and very complicated. On one hand, there's a very strong love- Jaune's first memory of his Mom is of their first encounter when she took his hand and walked with him into the home and made a warm meal for him. She accepted him despite being a faunus, and gave him the name Arc. Jaune loves her, even though he has conflicting feelings and other memories of his birth mother.

On the other, though, Jaune is tied to the bitter memory of his father's infidelity- one that repeated over and over until Jaune had seven step-sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Arc had a contentious relationship they tried to keep away from the children, extremely volatile in passion and anger. Despite this, Papa Arc loved (or at least gave affection) to all his children, and so Jaune looked up to him as much as Mother, much to his mother's resentment. The marriage ultimately ended without divorce by a White Fang terrorist attack that killed Jaune's father. Hence Jaune's hatred of the White Fang.

The root of Jaune's family issues/running away from home was his desire to emulate/preserve the Arc legacy- having grown up with it and loved the Father and Mother who accepted him into it, Jaune wanted nothing more than to keep it alive and bring honor to it. His mother, though, sees it as tainted and wanted to move past it and remarry. Not only did she not want Jaune risking himself as a Hunter, she wanted him to change his name with hers. This prompted an argument- possibly at the fiance's instigation if he didn't want Jaune around- which ended up having words that couldn't be taken back- 'no son of mine' and 'well I'm not.' Jaune left with the intent/idea that if he become a Hunter and could make her proud of 'Arc', it'd all be better.

With Yang as his listener, he gets some understanding on the complicated feelings of two mothers- and a knock on the head anyway for being stupid and worrying either one of them. From the table beside them, Sun leans over and goes- tough life, dude. Because eavesdropping right beside them- and too afraid to leave lest she be noticed- are Blake and Sun.

Yang's happy, Blake and Jaune are uncomfortable, and even Sun picks up on the something between them. Blake drags up her own past, and Yang and Jaune accept it well enough. Sun mentions that they're watching for the White Fang, Yang and Jaune demand in, and Blake's plan to solo it all gets blown apart as the four spend the night in Vale since the last shuttle to Beacon is closed. The four spring for two hotel rooms, and after alerting the rest of their teams they relax for Friday evening for the shipment that comes Saturday.

Jaune and Sun bond, faunus to faunus, for reasons entirely other than being faunus. In fact, Jaune's initial skepticism/suspicion that it would be that- and Sun's denial- is their commonality that gets things kicking off. Sun picked up on the whatever between Blake and Jaune, and while he is interested in Blake he doesn't want to butt in if Blake's taken. Jaune, once more, denies any interest and encourages Sun, earning him Sun's love forever more- but Sun pushes Jaune to reconcile anyway since it's clear it's bothering Blake. The two talk girls a bit- specifically Blake- with Sun's reasons being 'she's hot' and 'I'd don't know, but I'd like to learn,' with Jaune giving various praise and things for Sun to look forward to learning. When Sun asks Jaune what he wants in a girl, Jaune actually has nothing he can think of except a vague sense of someone who could be maternal- which doesn't call to mind Blake as far as he's concerned.

In the other room, Blake and Yang talk as well. There's the part in which Yang knocks Blake for running off without her partner and trying to do this solo. Yang also confronts Blake about her and Jaune's fight. Blake summarizes it, and admits she probably had more interest in Jaune than she admitted- partly romantic, perhaps, but also the 'ideal faunus' of what she wanted to see- idealism and a desire for heroism above racism and such. She's not heartbroken or anything, but she regrets the space between them now. Yang playfully claims that if Blake doesn't make her move then Yang might steal Jaune away, but really all Blake wants is reconciliation.

Ultimately, Sun and Yang kick Jaune and Blake back into the same room to reconcile with their apologies. Jaune for taking everything out on her, and the irrational stuff. Blake regrets the paternalism and trying to force Jaune on a pedestal as the 'ideal' faunus. The two gain healthier space- but there's no longer any indication of romantic tension. Blake tones down trying to fight Jaune's battles and blaming everything on racism. As part of their reconciliation, Jaune promises to support Blake with Weiss come tomorrow, and Blake tells Jaune to meet his mother in town.

Saturday is reconciliation day mk 2 as it all comes together. Ruby and Weiss come into Vale on the first airship, and reconcile with Blake before the possible fight that night. JNPR comes as well, to support Jaune as he meets and makes peace with his mother- familial love triumphs, and while she doesn't like 'Arc' she still loves Jaune and blesses off on his attempt to keep the family name alive. Jaune's still looking for that 'pride' he's been looking for, but his mother takes a look at the assembled friends and thinks he's already found it. Total metaphor of the girls being lionesses.

When night comes, it's a cakewalk- eight trainees, Sun, Penny, and Jaune's mother make for a cakewalk massacre so epic that Torchwick is doesn't have a chance to escape. The scene, and the arc, actually end with the teams on the roof- Jaune giving another full-throttled roar to stun the White Fang, before the teams jump down to win the battle.

End the School Arc

Begin the Dance Arc

(Much, much faster. Primary characters: Jaune, Weiss, Yang)

Beacon Season 2. Jaune's place in Beacon is much firmer. He's no longer the affirmative action pity case- he's holding his own, albeit with help from his friends. With the group's capture of Roman Torchwick (which was not according to anyone's plan), things are looking up and going good. In fact, Roman's capture led to a roll up of the local White Fang operations, including the Breach- and while the lead conspirators are at large, their plans for the foreseeable future are foiled.

Jaune and Blake's relationship has settled quite healthily into 'just friends' for real. His relationship with Pyrrha, never quite having the romantic interest undertone thanks to their first meeting and Blake's moving in as 'Jaune's closest support' in season one, is strictly platonic as well.

Which is why, with things settled so comfortably, thoughts turn to love and Jaune starts moving closer to Weiss.

Compared to canon, Jaune's much more of a gentleman, and much less obnoxious. He even has a good list of reasons for attraction- ranging from the physical to the abstract (touching back on how her respect/approval is fairly won for humans or faunus) to the personal (despite being a Schnee with reason to distrust, she gave him a chance and they became friends- and she's trying to reform her company).

Even so, Weiss is clearly reluctant. Despite their earlier less acrimonious start, Weiss doesn't give him a response- neither a yes or a no, but avoiding it. It's framed like Jaune's earlier initial attempts at being friends, so Jaune doesn't give up and he's not a complete tool for not doing so. Jaune is a polite suitor, and Weiss's attempts to reject him without actually reject him come off as less sympathetic for her.

As Jaune tries to appeal to her, he asks the rest of RWBY for help, and ends up with Yang's assistance. Yang thinks it would be nice to help Weiss unwind, and is a sucker for forbidden romance, and goes along, coaching and helping with the flirts and such. Yang, competitive, gets rolled up enough in it that when Neptune comes around, Yang pulls him along to free up Weiss.

While Jaune and Weiss are significantly closer than in canon, having been on friendly terms since shortly after initiation, Jaune's lion-hearted attempts at romance still fail. But the manner of Weiss's denials, and her refusal to give a good reason, start to lead to bad implications- that it's racism on her part. There's a bit of drama, and Yang pokes/prods/provokes Weiss to prove it by actually going on a date with Jaune.

It's not a bad date. Jaune is a gentleman, and Weiss eventually enjoys herself. But there's no magic, and at the end Jaune accepts it and asks if he can get the reason why. Is it really because he's a faunus?

Weiss denies it, close enough to be honest with him. In fact, being a faunus was one of his merits when she thought about it seriously- and that's almost as bad, because she shouldn't date someone just because daddy would hate it. Going on, Weiss says that while she's not interested, and that ambivalence should be enough, she's not personally opposed to Jaune either. She might not have a good reason to want to date him, but she doesn't have a good reason not to.

But she does have an important reason not to, even if it's a bad one. What it comes down to is her company- Weiss will inherit SDC. She will be married one day. And when she does, she'll need children who can inherit SDC from her to continue the family line.

Jaune gives an 'oh' and says he understands. She says she's sorry. The two return to Beacon in silence- and Jaune goes to his room without a word. Weiss returns to the RWBY room and denies that Jaune did anything wrong, but is clearly unhappy herself.

Jaune falls into a depression that catches his friends off guard, even as he doesn't talk about it. Concern and worry turn towards anger at Weiss, who refuses to explain what occurred. Pyrrha and Yang try to stir Jaune about the upcoming ball, but he sees no point. The more Yang tries to encourage him- the romance, the girls- the worse he seems to get. When Sun notices how depressed his bro Jaune is, he gets angry at Weiss as well, and Sun's anger translates to Neptune's anger which ruins Weiss's chance at what she wants. Even so, she keeps her reasons for rejection to herself. It's Jaune's choice to explain. Even though Jaune denies Weiss did anything wrong and encourages Neptune, the fact that Jaune's clearly in a funk means interest is null and void.

The equilibrium is shaken on Dance Day when Ruby intercepts/uncovers a letter to Jaune from his mother about his intent to uphold the Arc name and legacy. Specifically, Jaune's mother calls it an impossible task- and that the only way for Jaune to handoff the Arcs to the next generation is to do for someone else what she did for him. Ruby's confused and asks Yang, Yang doesn't know but is willing to find out, and asking Blake gives her enough to figure it out.

Jaune, as a half-breed, can't father children.

Humans and Faunus are like Lions and Tigers- they can interbreed, but the offspring- ligers- are a separate species and generally sterile. They have the parts, but they can't make it stick (so to speak), and so it's an evolutionary dead end. It's one of many reasons that half-faunus are so rare and marginalized, and part of Jaune's greater disassociation from humans and faunus both.

It also touches on some of Jaune's issues and changes in character from canon. Jaune's not the hormonal guy looking for a girlfriend from the start, such as with the near-opportunity with Blake, because from the start he's not been looking for a girlfriend to settle down and have kids that he can't have. It also touches on his fixation of preserving the Arc Legacy- a doomed quest that means so much for him, with ties into how he was both/neither born into it (his father sired him, but didn't share the name) or brought into it (his mother shared the name Arc, but has tried to make him change it).

It's a cultural/personal hook up- and Yang reminds Jaune of this fact with a boot in the butt and a reminder that adoption is an option- but it's a hookup that touches on Jaune's past and experiences with family and lineage. Jaune had always expected that he'd be able to adopt or something, but then he fell in love with Weiss- and Weiss's rejection came down to lineage- and it kicked that safe assumption away.

Is it stupid? Sure. Maybe. But is it how he feels? Yeah. It's a complicated knot, and Weiss gave his heart strings a tug. Made him doubt wonder if a family was really about blood, and if the Arc legacy would die with him.

With some friendly support- and Yang's tough love and telling him to stop moping- Jaune starts to move on. He explains it- and concern for his feelings on his sterility was why Weiss wouldn't share- and the 'Weiss is a racist!' worries die down in time for the Beacon Dance. Jaune hooks up Neptune and Weiss, cements Sun a dance with Blake, and returns to Yang for a mutual blonde-hair touchup/clean up session. Jaune, with a manicured mane and all tidied up, helps Yang in her role for the dance as the greeter/almost-imposing faunus bouncer.

As they finish their job and become wallflowers, Yang and Jaune talk some more, about Jaune's complicated feelings of family and belonging between two groups and worlds. With Blake, Jaune could never be the faunus she wanted him be. With Weiss, he wasn't the human she needed to achieve her own dreams. He cares for both of them greatly, and he knows they cared for him, but it just wouldn't work.

Yang, who's been helping him through this arc and since the Blake fight and thus gotten pretty close, tells Jaune to look for the silver lining in it all. Jaune's a bit clueless, but's come to terms with something- be proud of the friends he has, his own 'pride' of huntresses (and Ren and Sun and now maybe Neptune).

Yes, that's a good image… but Yang gives him one better. Think of all the money he can be saving on condoms while having all the wild, crazy unprotected sex he wants. He's, like, the perfect pussy cat. Party girls like her dream of finding guys like him. He should totally go out on the dance floor and see who jumps.

It's vulgar enough to shock, cheeky enough to make him laugh, and Yang carries it just far enough that Jaune disclaims he's interested in pity sex with a stranger. Yang laughs, and gives him a slap on the back before ruffling his mane- when has she ever pitied him? Jaune thinks back, and can't remember any- Yang's been supportive in the hard times but also kept him honest and moving forward, and kicked him out of self-pity. As he's remembering the frank and personal moments that makes him like her, he remembers a much earlier conversation from initiation.

Realizing how she phrased that 'girls like her' and how she disclaimed pity when he'd been talking about strangers, and how Yang was supporting him throughout reconciling with his mother and Blake and the entire Weiss courtship, Jaune asks Yang if she remembers what Blake said about touching faunus features.

Yang gives a coy smirk, roughs his mane up once more, and walks towards the dance floor, sashaying as she does so. Jaune, with a laugh and a shake of his mane, does.

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Coeur's Impression:

This one may have taken longer than 15 minutes by the look of things lol, either that or CF is the most desirable type-writer in existence.

Anyway, for such a long story there isn't much for me to say. I liked Blake's initial angle of protectiveness turning into pity and pampering. She basically becomes a sneakier form of Pyrrha, but it doesn't help Jaune much. Sure it's okay in assuring he has a landing strategy - that's a legitimate concern, but letting it take over her? Eh, it's a recurring theme in CF's work actually - the whole "protectiveness taken too far" - you can see it in more than a few prompts.

Not as recurring as Bullhead inferno's, but come on - let's not be crazy here!

Anyway, in this world where faunus are more allowed, there's little reason for Blake to hide - so CF might in a full story have wanted to counter it by placing more emphasis on the WF as baddies. Almost in a "we gave you what you wanted, why are you still being terrorists!?" And so Blake feels more reason to hide than before. Alternatively you could just go with the "she's more sensitive, and wants to hide more" angle - but it feels a little stale.

I also like the angle of the teachers seeming racist at first, before the reveal comes later that they have their own reasons. It's kind of like what I suggested in faunophobia, where CF hides the initial intent, to build up reader anger - and I really love how it's been used here as well. There really is NO point in conflict, if the reader knows it isn't real.

The missing person angle, and the mother are interesting aspects - bit more than that I like the fight between Blake and Jaune, and how Cardin uses that to blackmail Jaune. I do feel like it ends too soon though, as it's a nice conflict piece that doesn't go far enough for me. It's Chekhov's gun in that it's a plot piece which doesn't actually change anything - they start it at odds, and end it at odds. Honestly either utilise it more, or get rid of it. This is an Au anyway, so you could drop the blackmail arc without losing anything. At the minute it just sort of needlessly pads things out.

I do like the maturity of Jaune's mother - as a poor writer would take the easy out of "she hates him for the infedelity of the father" - but emotions aren't always that easy, and this is far less cliche. Instead Jaune places most of the pressure on himself. Lo and behold - like most people with self-esteem issues do! It's psychologically accurate.

I liked the failed relationship with Weiss too, but my biggest dislike was the casual ending of Yang suggestive with Jaune. I don't know... not everything needs to include romance, and that felt a little shoe-horned in. By that point it almost feels like Jaune has been through half the girls. With a suggestive Jaune x Blake early on - a Weiss x Jaune later - then settling for sex with Yang x Jaune.

I'd maybe have preferred to see it not explored, or hey - maybe finishing on a Blake x Jaune. Why not? Initially it's pity, then they are friends for ages - "just friends" - but maybe right near the end, Blake figures that she wants to try for more.

Either way, it's a good fill for the prompt. And it avoided the super-obvious "cowardly lion" trope, which would have had me rolling my eyes out of my skull. That said, i just felt like the Yang x Jaune ending was a little weak, because sure - while Yang and Jaune interacted well throughout the entire story, it never really felt exciting or electrifying in any way.

I'd have almost preferred a celibate ending. Sure he doesn't get anyone, but he's surrounded by girls (and guys) that he loves like family. His relationship with his own family is fixed - and life is looking up. He can find a girl later, he still has a life to live after all.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

What to say except I got carried away? This, by the way, is one of two reasons why there's no Ghost Jaune this week. Planning was relatively simple, writing was many many hours. (Problem of the 'Beacon but slightly different' AU's- reiterating canon is tedius, and can be limiting- think how I resolved the mother subplot so quick, so that it wouldn't interfere with the dance arc.)

Here I tried to hit the racism angle harder, from multiple directions. There's the overt racism of Cardin. There's the unintentional racism. And there's even the intended-to-be benevolent racism of Blake. There's also the politically touchy subject of affirmative action. Even suggesting it can be a double-edged sword is heresy to some, but I've known and seen people who felt it. It's a double-edged sword here, just like Blake's paternalism- Jaune needs it, wouldn't be there without it- and so it opens an opportunity he wouldn't otherwise have- but it comes with a burden as well.

I also wanted to hit on how racism isn't the cause for everything wrong in a racially oppressed person's life. Jaune's faculty bullying has more to do with being an affirmative action case than his actual race. Jaune's mother issues are infidelity of the father, not the race of Jaune's birth-mother. Biological realities (the half-faunus = liger sterility) have an impact on relationships. These are things that came about because of the race, but would also still apply if the actual issue came about with a different race.

A significant weakness overall is, as in canon, how unimportant JNPR is to Jaune's story. If initiation didn't work so well, I'd swap Jaune and Ruby's teams. Maybe Ruby encounters Pyrrha first and they split for Jaune, but end up stuck as partners becasuse of the rule.

Finally, the love stories of sorts. I don't really think of it as one. Blake's interest in Jaune was on the boundary of romantic interest, and could have been had he reciprocated, but I wanted to fight the 'faunus x faunus' shipping from the opposite of the norm. Coeur hates SunxBlake on the basis of faunus being the commonality- here I added a bit more (Jaune being Blake's 'ideal' of what a faunus should be) to make Blake guilty of the sin- in this case, projecting onto the idea of an 'ideal faunus' she wants Jaune to be. The Weiss angle was to be doomed in reverse- where race is the issue, just not racism per see. Race is a factor, but it's not the racism per see as much as biology and incompatible ideas of family.

Yang wasn't really intended to be romance, per see. More like comfort sex, without dipping into pity sex. I wanted to avoid sterility = celibacy, for some reasons that would take too long to say. It's not so much romance, as 'friends with benefits' to take advantage of that silver lining of his life. Even so, Coeur's suggestion has merits. You could certainly end on a strong point of everyone's together, and Jaune realizes that this- his friends- is his lion's pride.

And... ugh. Did I mention how long that took? That was my last hurrah before this new job shot my writing time. Don't expect anything like this again soon.

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Author Notes:

Reader prompts. Some good ones out there. Some not so good ones. I'm going to hit on the topic of respect again, though. Specifically, if you want ours.

We are not your fill generators. Please do not treat us like we are. If you send a PM or leave a review that's nothing more than a prompt, when we go through this effort to produce and share ideas for consideration... well, you aren't actually reviewing what we do. If you don't give consideration to what we do, why would you expect us to give consideration to your idea?

Think on it. I'm not looking for apologies, or expressions of regret.


	38. Faunus: Adam Arc

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – Adam was an orphan. The Arc's wanted a son. Then Jaune was born.

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The Adam Arc

Initial Thoughts: Huh, okay. Various ways to take this one I suppose. We could have a super-serious angst story, wherein Adam gets Jaune involved in the White Fang, leading to both their innocence being tainted - and Jaune even nearly killed. Or a comedy, where Adam is like this distant older brother Jaune aspires to be like, but can never match. Someone he always talks about to his friends - until Adam becomes their teacher in the second semester. A big Bro who always lays the smackdown on his little brother (in the name of training and love, of course).

But you know what... Blake is in the White Fang was all serious and drama, Dating what Daddy Hates was a Romcom. Let's take this... in a third direction.

Title: Adam Arc  
Summary:

Intro Arc:

Jaune and Adam are in the Arc home, being bandaged up and berated by their mother - they have both been at a faunus rally that went south, and were hurt by people throwing rocks. Adam is angry, but Jaune - despite his bruises - is proud they stood up for the faunus. His mother relents, kissing him but asking Adam to take better care of Jaune. Adam swings Jaune up onto his shoulders, saying that's the responsibility of an older brother. Right before their seven sisters burst in and demand his attention.

Their mother watches on as Adam is swamped, the cool older brother who everyone wants the attention of. And Adam Arc gives it to each of them.

This arc goes on to show Adam in the arc family, but also how the arc family supports his dreams of peace between the faunus and humans. Jaune is an honourary WF member, as they aren't military yet.

Arc 1 -

The WF continues rallies, which always go south due to violence. Meanwhile there are talks in the Fang of how to get better results. Adam is approached by a charismatic wolf faunus who has a plan to become vigilante heroes, who protect faunus, steal from the rich and generally do small covert actions to benefit the oppressed. They hope to become heroes in the public eye.

Jaune loves the idea, although Adam won't let him join due to the danger. Adam has been trained by Nicholas, and says he will join so long as Jaune isn't allowed to. The wolf faunus agrees, saying he doesn't really want humans on the team anyway.

Adam goes on some missions, they are illegal - but always with the best of intentions. Stealing medical supplies for SDC miners, selling stolen goods for money to help the poor. Sometimes even busting corrupt politicians and getting them deposed. Adam becomes something of a celebrity within the WF, with many loving him for his great honour (something he learned from the Arcs) and his loyalty to the cause of inter-species co-operation.

True to predictions, this gets the WF some positive publicity, but also some bad. The Vigilantes are brought before the WF leader.

Arc 2 -

The WF leader wants them to stop, but none of them will. The old methods never worked, and don't seem to. The new way has achieved more in a few months than years of protests. The old leader argues they have achieved fear, and have only served to increase antagonism among those who hated them - and fear in those who were neutral.

The matter comes to a head when at their next rally the leader is killed by SDC, acting in retribution to attacks on their mines. The WF is plunged into chaos, and in the power vacuum the wolf faunus rises to the top, whipping their people up into a frenzy at the constant abuse they face.

Adam and Jaune are quiet as everyone cheers and welcomes the new way. Adam believes the death of the old leader is his fault, and Jaune doesn't like the sounds of violence, and knows their family wouldn't approve.

Arc 3 -

The new fanatical White Fang is a sudden change to the organisation. New members are quickly radicalised, and worked up into a hatred of humans. Meanwhile, those with more temperate views are seen as traitors, sometimes punished - other times expelled. But it creates an undercurrent of fear, as people don't want to be seen to disagree with the command.

Jaune begins to experience his own racism within the Fang, as new recruits abuse him in training and beyond. He takes it all in stride, but Adam becomes concerned at the bruises appearing across his body.

Adam steps in to berate the new recruits, explaining to them why they shouldn't attack humans for no reasons, especially not their own allies. The recruits seem to accept the reasoning, though Adam is drawn before the new leader and berated for undermining their efforts. Adam argues that it's foolish to attack their own, before walking out.

Blake, a new recruit, is one of the few to make friends with Jaune - and through him, Adam. Adam personally takes over her training and Jaune's, forging them into a strong team.

Arc 4 -

Adam is made to go on more questionable missions, with gradually darker results. It culminates in one mission where he doesn't know the objective, but it turns out to be a bomb attack which kills hundreds. Horrified, Adam demands to know why he wasn't told - and it's revealed that the leadership doesn't trust him due to his ties with Jaune, and his known sympathy for humans.

Furious, Adam points out that sympathy is empathy - and only a monster wouldn't feel it for those innocents they just killed. The leader responds by handing out the Grimm masks, saying they must become monsters to succeed.

When Adam returns to the White Fang his honour as an Arc demands redemption, and he decides that he will change the White Fang from within.

Arc 5 -

An Arc in which Adam attempts to change the ideology of the White Fang. He holds small talks, little rallies within the White Fang itself to those who will listen. Blake and Jaune help him, liking Adam's idea of moderate force, but never for cruel reasons. Others seem to like it too, a more moderate - but still forceful approach, but without the terrorism aspect.

For a while he believes he might be successful, and the mood is up.

Arc 6 -

There is a reaping of dissenters within the Fang, with many of Adam's oldest supporters declared traitor - and some even killed. The first ever execution within the organisation. The brutal act instills terror into their ranks, and cuts Adam's support drastically.

In a fury, Adam confronts the leader - who warns him that dissent isn't going to be tolerated in the organisation any further. There is also a not-so-veiled threat of what might happen to Jaune if Adam doesn't play ball.

Arc 7 -

Adam is made to go on more missions, which he does to avoid Jaune being in danger. He doesn't tell Blake and Jaune why though, leading to them wondering why he has abandoned his cause. Adam doesn't realise that the two decide to continue regardless, and they place themselves in danger by continuing to split the White Fang in their ideology.

Adam comes back from a mission only for one of his friends to warn him that Blake and Jaune have been arrested by the leadership, and are being tried for treason. Adam storms the court room, offering defence - before being forced to sit through the biggest sham of a court he has ever seen. Even those in the crowd look uncomfortable, yet cowed.

Jaune and Blake are sentenced to execution.

Arc 8 -

Adam won't allow it. He goes about all his friends, all his contacts and those who supported his idea and tries to rally them into storming the execution. Saying the leader has gone too far and needs to be stopped.

No one will help however, they are too scared - too cowed from all the fear and recent executions. They fear for their own lives, and even when Adam tries to appeal to that, to say that fighting for their freedom is better than living in fear. Even when he points out how they will outnumber the leader.

No one will support him, they're all too scared. Too much bystander behaviour and a willingness to wait for someone else to be the hero.

Adam feels defeated and collapses to his knees. Uncertain of what to do

Arc 9 -

The Execution arrives, and Jaune and Blake are brought out in front of everyone. They are badly bruised, and have obviously been tortured - and a few in the crowd even shout out against the treatment. Only to go silent when the leader invites them to stand up and say something if they wish to comment.

He turns to the two and draws his weapon, only to be stopped by Adam, who steps onto the stage between them.

There is a confrontation where the leader comments that he always knew this moment would come. Adam was always too influential, too idealistic and foolish. He blames the humans for that, tainting him.

Adam counters by saying his humanity is his greatest strength, and gives him compassion and honour - where as the leader and his lot have become nothing more than Grimm. Monsters in human flesh that encapsulate everything those who hate faunus accuse them of. He says there will never be peace, because they no longer want it.

The crowd cheer in favour of Adam, only to be silenced once more. A few in the crowd are even knocked down by the guards, and Adam still sees people refuse to move. They are all waiting for him to try and do everything... and yet he stands alone against over fifty men.

He recalls his training with Nicholas, how his father often talked of the cruelty of the hunter life - and what it entailed. And how family had always been more important to him. Adam looks back to Jaune and Blake, beaten and bruised - and then thinks of his sisters back at home, no doubt wondering why their big brother has been so absent. He then imagines what the leader would do to them should he find them.

He looks back over the enemies arrayed against him. Some look uncertain, others hesitate - but they are willing to kill him. Adam says he won't turn his blade against another faunus, how they shouldn't be fighting one another.

A few more hesitate, but the leader rallies them still. In the end they attack, and at the last moment - Adam does not draw his sword.

Jaune screams as Adam is run through, even as the leader screams in triumph. He breaks free of the guard's grip - who lets him go in shock. And Jaune reaches Adam's body, crying over it. Blake arrives a second later, standing in front of Jaune and Adam with her arms held out, just a thirteen year old girl screaming that they won't kill them. The Leader steps forward and strikes towards her, intent on cutting her head from her shoulders.

Only to find his blade stopped. A nameless White Fang Guard, one of Adam's old friends stops him, tears in his eyes. Another guard screams as he is stabbed and dragged down into the crowd. Screams break out, and the crowd surges forward, driven into a frenzy as they storm the stage.

The Leader shouts orders, attempts to bring it back to order, but is eventually silenced by the mass of White Fang. Jaune barely sees any of it, simply begging for Adam to open his eyes, that they did it. He did it - he convinced everyone.

But Adam is gone.

Arc 10 -

A news report epilogue (God I use those a lot, don't I?) - In which Lisa Lavender commentates on a new faunus civil rights Bill that has been approved in Vale between the White Fang and the Council.

The White Fang, led by renowned visionary Jaune Arc has gone from strength to strength as a peace-keeping charitable organisation, and has found new success, with hundreds of volunteers - faunus and human alike.

The new law will set minimum wages for all faunus workers, including conditions and clauses that will lead to gross fines for companies found to have breached them. Jaune and Blake Arc are to meet with the Council directly to commemorate the great day, and the founding of the Bill of Adam.

This is Lisa Lavender, signing out.

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C.F.'s Impression:

I'd like to point out that this seems like a super-serious angst route to take. Not a family drama like it could have been- a missed opportunity, perhaps- but drama none the less.

I don't have much to say about the flaws of the plan that Coeur doesn't, but I would like to point out my favorite part: Coeur's take on how fear and intimidation work within an organization. During the White Fang Ren fill, I hit on how radicalization can occur while defying stereotypes. Here, we have a good example of how fear works.

And it does work. Fear, intimidation, coercion- evil exists, and evil sustains itself, because evil does work. Better than we'd like, longer than we'd wish, or else good and niceties would be the sensible thing and no one would resort to evil. One day I'll probably write a story about that. But here, Coeur hit it's effects- and its limitations. That a nameless White Fang grunt is the one to defy? I _like_ that. History isn't always made by the big movers and shakers- often it's the little people who act in upredictable and unpredicted ways that throw things into chaos.

So I like the way this fill ended. Not how I would have done things, but a worthy addition none the less.

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Coeur's Reflection:

Not a bad idea, but needed some work. I'm the kind of person to stick to the 15 min rule - which means even when I posted this to CF I immediately followed it up with the weaknesses it had, and how I might address them - but alas, the time was gone.

This needed more interaction between the Arc family and Adam/Jaune - the unsaid plan was to have adam and jaune use excuses for their WF behaviour, being at a friend's house etc... but as the work gets worse and harder, the excuses get flimsier - and the family stress gets higher. Similarly I wanted Adam to often talk with Nicholas, the father - with the older offering advice to Adam. The big reveal was going to be that although Nicholas never meant it so, his advice is actually what gives Adam the resolve he needs to sacrifice his life at the end.

As for the sacrificial act itself, in a summary it probably doesn't make a heap of sense, but in the full piece I would have built Adam up as a figure-head for the White Fang - the fighter who does the tasks, who earns the respect of all his men. Because in the show he is similar, but also very cold. I wanted to show how an Arc upbringing would have helped Adam become not only powerful - but also a leader, one who wins respect and loyalty. So, when he is killed before them all, it's the final thing that makes the White Fang snap. Because while the leader might have been the one running the show, Adam was the spirit and heart of the White Fang - especially the new recruits.

Ultimately his sacrifice does well for his Adam - his brother and Blake are protected, the cruel leadership is deposed - He, himself, who he believes would be a tainted leader is removed from the game. Leaving Jaune, one who has loved and lost - and knows true pain to run the show and turn everything around.

It wasn't perfect, clearly - there was a lot missed out. But I put exactly 15 minutes into this, and sometimes you just have to say "I'm out of time" no matter how incomplete it is.

Definitely needed more Arc family moments though, and Adam would need to go on a bunch of missions to build the respect of his men, I said he did - but in a full piece quite a few would be needed, also to show the gradual change from vigilante action - to terrorist action.

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Author Note:

And here's the end of faunus week. Next week will be a week of more or less random fills, followed by Villain week.

As a heads up, posting schedule is changing. College Fool's new life for the next half-year doesn't leave me with a lot of time for writing. Ghost Jaune isn't going to be weekly. Writer Games isn't going to be every day. It'll still continue- but as we're pretty much caught up, I don't have time any given day to plan and write a fill. Even the none massive ones.


	39. The Grass is Always Greener

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Jaune Arc, through some kind of event/disturbance/WHATEVER - is transported to a world where everyone's opinions of him... are inverted.

Does he try to return - come the end, will he even want to? Or will he find new friends, even perhaps love - in this strange new world.

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College Fool's Fill: The Grass is Always Greener

Jaune wakes up in Beacon infirmary after a fight he can barely remember. In the infirmary are familiar faces of Teams JNPR, CRDL, and RWBY- but familiarity quickly turns to confusion and unfamiliar dynamics.

Team JNPR, his own team, is cold and distant- clinical, dispassionate, and not at all warm or concerned despite his injuries. Jaune is confused- but rationalizes it because of his miserable handling of the fight. When he asks if Pyrrha is disappointed, because he didn't apply her lessons, she says she is, and that's that. NPR leave.

Team CRDL is what he might have expected from JNPR or RWBY- concerned, warm, and a bit rough but good natured. Cardin gives him shit about succumbing, but it's called out by his team as a tsundere moment- that Cardin was more worried than anyone- and there's talk about how they'll have to redouble their training with Jaune.

But Team RWBY- RWBY is the most disorienting, hot and cold. Yang is standoffish and silent, while Blake is warm and concerned. Ruby doesn't express any concern at all once severe injuries are ruled out- but Weiss is practically hanging on his bedside with concern. When Jaune- still in the flirting stage- asks if Weiss out if she's so concerned… she agrees, causing both Ruby and Yang to snort in disgust and leave, commenting that if he's capable of flirting clearly there's nothing wrong.

Jaune recovers physically with frequent visits from CRDL and Weiss and Blake, but his confusion and disorientation are noticed and spark concerns. Jaune is diagnosed with partial amnesia and memory tampering, which is explained as a consequence of the battle. There is concern- but with time it will hopefully recover. In the meantime, Weiss takes the lead in spending time with Jaune, not only helping him keep up with classwork but helping him make sense of things. Jaune puts the pieces together of what's happened, coming to a conclusion that he's gone to another world or timeline.

Apparently it starts early on at initiation- in which Jaune and Team CRDL struck it off famously. Jaune served as the conscience of Team CRDL, reforming them- they liked Jaune, Jaune didn't like them bullying faunus, and so gradually they didn't. They're his friends, and have helped him train and keep up with Beacon despite some hard times.

A big part of those hard times are his own team, Team JNPR- a Team which never bonded with him for reasons no one can quite pin down, but seems to deal with a lack of respect for Jaune and his strength. Jaune- still weak- is the eternal frustration of Champion Pyrrha, despite her heavy-handed efforts to make him improve. Jaune's ties with Nora and Ren are strained as well- everyone suspects that Ren, polite but cold and passive-aggressive, believes he should be the Team Leader. Nora is also a source of animosity- and seems to be his biggest bully, between upstaging him in terms of abilities, or doing crazy antics to undermine him publicly, or just making him the target of pranks.

But most confusing is Team RWBY- who is hot and cold to him, from the opposite angles. Ruby and Yang took poorly to Jaune- starting with the vomit boy incident and never getting better. Like JNPR, it seems to focus on disliking/not respecting Jaune's weakness and lack of training pre-Beacon. They see him as someone who benefits from special treatment and relying on the work of others- which may be true, because of Team CRDL's support, and an outright doting Glenda Goodwitch, who treats him as the golden boy to be nurtured.

On the other hand, Blake and Weiss- who he didn't get along with well beforehand- are apparently close friends. Blake is friendly for his success in reforming CRDL. And Weiss- Weiss is as in love with him as he's been besotted with her.

Her visits while he's in the infirmary are practically dates, and she's more than happy to recall why- how he was willing to talk to her directly and not like a Schnee heiress, how despite his weakness and her initial reluctance he didn't give up, how they bonded over family. He even helped her bond with Ruby, even though he knew Ruby and Yang didn't like him. When he was injured protecting her during the fight she was terrified- but when he woke up and asked her out, she was overjoyed. Weiss is clearly on cloud nine- giggles at snow angel and all- and it's all too good to be true.

Jaune is dazed and confused. Some of the time he thinks he's heaven- CRDL isn't bullying him, he has the girl of his dreams- but when he wants to share his joy with Ruby and JNPR, it comes crashing down. And all the while, a reoccurring nightmare of the fight that sends him to the infirmary plagues him.

Jaune thinks he's in an alternate timeline at first- that this is a 'what if' he'd befriend CRDL earlier on- and (with Weiss's enthusiastic support) tries to reconnect with RY/NPR. If he could make friends of his friends, this would be paradise. Weiss is reluctant in his efforts- thinking them unwise given the past- but she also wants it to work as well, and puts her own ties with RY/NPR on the line to try and help Jaune. But in trying on the basis of his insider friendly knowledge, Jaune only earns more disrespect/animosity- and making trouble for Weiss as he's accused of spying on them, or betraying team trust, and nothing he does makes any progress. Weiss comforts him supportively, reflecting on her own difficulties bonding with RWBY, but he's still miserable.

The key comes from outside beacon. Weiss, when talking about how they first started being close, mentions things that he doesn't remember- and similarities he has no memory of having. How they came from prestigious families, but were both estranged from their siblings and parents. Jaune can't believe this- but a trip (with Weiss's assistance/companionship) to confirm it shows the truth. Jaune's sisters and parents loath him- and there's no change or reason in his backstory to justify it. It just… is, and always has been that way.

Jaune, putting the pieces and dream-fragments together, realizes that this isn't a difference of timelines- where butterfly effect could change things- this is a difference of everyone's perspectives of him, and only that- even though there aren't changes to their pasts to justify it. They are only out of character when it comes to him. Realizing that he's in a dream or illusion of some sort, Jaune tries to go back to the point where it went wrong- to the incident that put him in the infirmary- but his efforts run into a powerful obstacle, including mysterious fighters.

His initial efforts are a failure, even when he gets help from Weiss, Blake, and CRDL. Infact, it might go so badly that (most) of them are captured- leaving Jaune without support or allies. If he's to break past the mysterious fighters, he needs more than just CRDL and Weiss/Blake. He needs all his friends.

Jaune braves his Team and Ruby/Yang's dislike, and scorn of his failure, to ask for help- humbling himself in a way he never has in this timeline. While the 'him' of this world had the good character underneath, he hadn't overcome his machismo or pride, which had stunted the reversed feelings. But when others are at stake- appealing to his friends' character and not just their views on him- he convinces them to come together and help him. First, to rescue CRDL and Weiss/Blake. But then, all of them, to break through the fighters and to whatever they're defending.

The three teams come together, return to the site of Jaune's injury, and weird shit happens. Boss fight, suspicious machine, glowing portal whatever- and it's obvious that this is artificial. That Jaune doesn't belong here- and that this is how he goes back to a world where his friends don't hate him and his enemies don't like him.

Despite the implications that the entire world is fake, there's a general consensus that he should.

CRDL and Blake are optimistic- they support Jaune making things right, and urge Jaune to re-make friends with them. Blake puts it best in that she's relatively neutral about him- neither hot or cold- and only became warm once he reformed CRDL. Since that wasn't an initial impression- but a butterfly effect of things- she reassures him that she (probably) doesn't hate him in his world, and that they can be friends again if he redeems CRDL. Which they encourage him to do, even if he has to knock sense into them.

NPR and RY are also supportive. They are, if not fond, at least have gained some respect for Jaune- and it's that respect, without warmth, that convinces them that there's something broken about this world and them. At the very least it's better for Jaune to leave it. If their world is real, it'd be better for Jaune to go back to a world where they'd accept him. And if this world isn't real- if it is all fake- then they'd rather end the twisted nature that's making them hate him. Either way, they win- they get to be free of a Jaune they don't like, or are freed of being forced to dislike him.

But one person doesn't want Jaune to go, who won't let him go- and that's Weiss. The girl of his dreams, in a world that would otherwise be a nightmare. She wants him to stay, is prepared to fight for it- and that's how Jaune finally accepts that this is all, everything, an illusion. Yes, Jaune loves her- and having matured over this experience, he knows why he likes her. It's not just her looks. Weiss- the real and this alternate- has the same regard for her team, the same difficulties with her family, and the same strength to push forward.

But most of all, the Weiss he loves had the sense of justice that would have told him to return. That the girl who struggled to bond with her team, who wanted the love of her family- she wouldn't stop him from returning to his team, his friends, and reconnecting with his family. That's not who she was. That's not the Weiss he fell in love with- again.

The alternate Weiss lowers her weapon, heartbroken but true to her core character. As Jaune passes her towards the portal, she grabs him and kisses him- and tells him that she'll hate him so much right now if it means that the other her could ever like him instead. Jaune, having lived the fantasy and become something more mature, promises to win her respect and affection on his own terms, and not just rely on illusions or distortions.

Jaune passes through the portal, and wakes up again in Beacon, in the same infirmary and with the same faces that the story began with. Jaune immediately asks Weiss out- and gets rejected- and surprises everyone by laughing with relief.

An exposition dump explains everything that happened. In the three-team fight, Jaune took a blow meant for Weiss and fell to a lotus-eater machine: basically, a semblance that trapped people the inverted world of nightmares and desires, trapping them with both fear/misery and offering them their heart's desire. Jaune had everyone worried- even CRDL, who is hardly warm- but he fought through it even before a specialist could arrive to try and break him out.

Worn out but relieved to be with his friends- and basking in the concern of his team- Jaune is tired and his team shuffles everyone out so he can rest. Yang, curious, wants to know what he say in his dreams- and looking Weiss in the eye, Jaune simply says it was a nightmare.

Cue a bit later. Weiss returns to the infirmary, alone. Uncomfortable about what happens, she apologizes to Jaune that he had to take the lotus-eater blow for her… and apologizes for what she presumes was her cruelty to Jaune in the dream world.

Jaune- tired but awake- assures her it was quite the opposite. That she was the one who helped him through it. Weiss understands the implication- about how it offered dreams and desires- and is uncomfortable the topic. Jaune spares her the difficulty- he knows she doesn't like him. That doesn't mean he'll stop liking her- but he promises to not confuse a fantasy and reality any longer. He'll restrain himself- saying he'd rather have a friend than be hated.

Weiss accepts the offer of starting over from friendship and prepares to leave, but stops at the door. She tells him that while she doesn't like him in the way he likes her, she doesn't hate him either. It's true she's been annoyed were his unwanted flirts- but the only time she's been genuinely angry him was when he took the blow on her behalf.

Weiss leaves, leaving Jaune to consider what he said. Jaune thinks on the lotus-eater world- on opposite of feelings- and wonders what it meant. Blake's parting words come to mind- about her warm feelings weren't because of an impression, but butterfly effects from neutrality- and Jaune hears the echo of Weiss's words, and the dream-Weiss's promise to him.

Believing he still has a chance for the girl of his dreams- even if it's just a fantasy for now- Jaune goes to sleep.

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Coeur's Impression:

Pretty much what I had in mind with the prompt here, and thankfully executed just as I hoped it would be. With Jaune making the decision to return to his own world, despite losing out on a lot. I liked the Weiss romance, especially the bittersweet element of always knowing it wouldn't last.

I would have liked to see Yang and Ruby be a little more opposite than they were however, since in the actual show I would class Ruby as supportive friend, and Yang as amused but friendly. Their opposites here felt a little too happy to help Jaune along the way, when I would have liked to see them more antagonistic.

I feel the story was good, but the antagonism that should have come from the opposite world didn't feel as big as it should have. Considering Pyrrha is almost obsessive romance with him, I would have liked to see her completely despise him, instead they have some small respect for him, which is okay - but not the hammer blow I would have liked.

Weiss felt the best handled, with Blake being good as well. I just felt like JNPR started off well, with the disappointed card and not visiting him in the infirmary.

I would have liked to see his breaking through to them (or maybe even being unable to break through to them) being the main conflict here, rather than a fight with a shadowy group. That way he could either leave happy that he at least got through to them, or even leave happier. If he couldn't at all convince NPR to like him, then that must mean the truly love him back in his world.

Either way it was good - I just wanted more of it to be dedicated to Jaune dealing with the fallout of a world where opinions are opposite, rather than getting away with some small respect already being there.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Coeur's comments are precisely why I gradually moved towards 15 minute planning, but extensive writing as we played our game more and more. Planning broad strokes is easy. Tone-elements like the antagonism are the sort that my longer fills make sure to hit, but which get brushed aside in the shorter summaries where I try to make time. Here, the antagonism of JNPR and RY were brushed only lightly. What I had in mind, but didn't hit well, were that 'respect' and 'affection' were separate: in canon the friends like Jaune, even if there's not much to respect. In this world there's still not much to respect... and the negative affection builds off that. Ren and Nora sees Jaune as a cheater and weakling who didn't earn his place in the team or as a leader. Pyrrha had a bad taste of a first encounter when Jaune was pursuing Weiss, and then got stuck with him and resents it. Ruby and Yang got off to a bad start with vomit boy. Etc. I did want there to be more hostility- it just wasn't key to the plot, and I wanted Jaune to be able to pierce it by growing and appealing to their core characters on a level they could respect. I thought that was important, or else the idea of his ex-friends helping him wouldn't make much sense if the antagonism was insurmountable. Instead, I wanted a realization/tragic understanding where everyone, including them, realize that their feelings for and towards Jaune are unnatural- so the people who hate him realize they're being made to hate him, and fantasy!Weiss's feelings are deemed illegitimate no matter how sincere she feels.

While there are parts that could be improved and expounded upon (such as Jaune's role as 'the teammate nobody likes' in JNPR), I think the biggest lack or omission is not developing the Jaune/fantasy!Weiss relationship more in reverse. Starting with the getting together, the childish fantasy of a relationship, but developing things backwards towards real attraction and love. That'd have been a good use of the 'amnesia' cover- with fantasy!Weiss filling in the gaps and helping him through re-adjustment, and Jaune getting to know the 'real' Weiss who's still beneath the magical effect of how people view Jaune. So when the fantasy isn't crushing on him, but lets through the real Weiss, and Jaune learns and likes her.

Despite the semblance/gimmick of the opinion switch, one thing I wanted to to fight against was that all the feelings in the scenario were deterministic. That people's opinions of Jaune were fixed and couldn't be changed- I thought it important to suggest that he could earn the respect of those who didn't like him, since respect and 'liking' are two different things, and offer a hope spot for his real world. That also tied to the idea of indifference/neutrality as a starting point- how Blake is friendly with him in the alternate universe not because of her views being flipped, but the butterfly effects of reigning in Team CRDL. That was the lead-in to Weiss, and Jaune's relationship in the real world: not innate hostility, but the reaction to his own actions.

On a broader note...

You know what's annoying at times? A perfectly good plot that's also perfectly predictable. It makes you want to change things up just for the sake of defying expectation, even though 'different' doesn't mean 'better.' This is pretty much the most stereotypical 'lotus eater machine' trope plot imaginable- dream world, and the giving up dreams for reality- so much so that I had a strong urge to subvert it just because. Let Jaune re-win the respect of his friends, and keep the dream girl. But that (probably) would have been weaker, and worse, and so we see that 'predictable' doesn't mean 'bad.'

This is also one of those plot ideas that, like time travel, really hooked me when I was younger. Time travel fiction has heavy parallels with dream-universe: both genres are heavily rooted in the wish-fulfillment idea of making things better/ideal, while also dabbling in the dystopian nightmare contexts of how things could go wrong. Most stories stay on one end or the other, but here I mixed them- a sort of 'all things are even except your hearts desire' scenario for Jaune. I'll admit I cribbed that after a long-lost Naruto fanfiction in which the protagonist was faced with a world which was almost 50-50 in terms of being better and worse- a good sort of thing so that when he weighed the pro's and con's of trying to go home, it really wasn't making the world better or worse. I liked the idea, since it gave more relevance to the protagonists own maturity and reasoning- no fobbing it off as 'the greater good.' There's barely any dramatic suspense for escaping a dystopian future or a nightmare world- it's a lot harder to justify leaving an idea one.

Overall, not bad if I say so myself. It just lacks a single original thought I didn't steal from somewhere else. Still, it was nice to give Coeur what he was wanting and hoping for. Can't subvert everything, right?


	40. Conviction

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt – In the time before sneaking into Beacon, Jaune somehow get a girlfriend. He fully intends to keep her. Sorry, Snow Angel, but tall, blonde, and handsome is off the market.

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Title: Conviction  
Summary: Tall, blonde, scraggly and taken. Jaune Arc was a stranger to fighting Grimm, but not to love. But it all began long before Beacon.

Beat 1 -

Jaune is a confused teen, with little going for him. Average in all departments, his father is a famous Hunter - but he doesn't have the training. He still wants to be a hero however, and dreams of attending Beacon.

Beat 2 -

While in one of his typical dreaming periods, Jaune goes to the local library to try and find some books on legendary techniques or hunter training. Something he can learn to give him an edge since he lacks the physical training or experience. He asks the librarian there for advice, and she recommends a few books students at Signal use. Jaune thanks her, reading in the library.

It takes him two or three visits for the two to talk, with the girl, Emily, being the same age - earning money on a part-time job. She dreams of being an author, something Jaune initially thinks quite tame compared to being a Hunter.

Beat 3 -

Jaune can't learn enough from the books, and it causes him increased frustration. Of course there's no shortcuts, but he'd been hoping for something to help him. Anything. Emily does her best to comfort him, and convinces him that he needs to take a break every now and then. The two regularly spend her lunch hour together, with him going over what he's found - and her discussing her latest ideas for novels.

Jaune slowly finds himself lost in her stories, as she has an incredibly creative mind - often about heroes and those who fight for the greater good. Before long, the breaks are less him talking, and more him listening.

On the training front, jaune approaches his father for help - only to be rebuffed. He's too old to learn now, he would never be able to get into Beacon.

Beat 4 -

Jaune is dispirited by his father's words, and tells Emily about them. She does her best to comfort him, but says that his father isn't necessarily wrong. Children enter Signal as early as 11, and he is 16. Five years is a lot of time, especially at their age.

Despite that he manages to convince her to help him train, even though she seems reluctant of the suggestion. The two do some simple exercises in the woods, fighting with practice weapons. Emily is surprisingly good at it, and he learns a lot from her.

During their rests, with him slightly hurt and tired, she rests his head on her lap and tells him more stories about her latest ideas - and he lays through them all, a smile on his face.

After a few weeks of training together, during one story that is a romance, the story doesn't end - and Jaune asks why not. Emily admits that she's never experienced romance, so doesn't know where to go with it. Jaune says he hasn't either, before sitting up and looking at her. He admits that actually... he has, and kisses her.

Beat 5 -

Jaune and Emily become official, and it's the happiest time of Jaune's life. He spends nearly every day at the library, and learns from her in the evenings. The two go on a few dates, and Emily even buys him a small broach of a butterfly, which he wears on his collar. He still wants to become a hunter, despite Emily's suggestions otherwise.

They have an argument after she pushes too hard however, and during it she reveals that the reason she doesn't want him to be a hunter, is the same reason she has to work for a living so young. Her dad was a hunter, and he trained her - but he was killed on a mission. His mother went into a deep depression and never recovered. Even now she waits for his return, rarely leaving her chair on the front porch - and it's Emily who earns money for the house.

Jaune is horrified, and also quietened. He kisses her to try and relax her, and in a moment of need she holds him - the pair consummate their young relationship. As they lay in each others arms afterwards, Jaune decides he will not become a hunter. That he would rather spend the rest of his life with her, than seek glory elsewhere.

Emily cries but hugs him, thanking him.

Beat 6 -

Jaune and Emily wake up the next morning, still n*** in the woods together. A little embarassed, but too happy to care, the duo get dressed and make to return home. It's during the journey however that disaster strikes. A number of Beowolves attack, and during the fight Jaune is badly injured. Emily, who up until then had never realised Jaune lacked an aura, is aghast and tries to get him to safety.

She takes a few hits to protect him, but manages to bring him to the border of Vale. Jaune is badly hurt and bleeding out, his blood spilling everywhere as he tries to stay conscious. He apologises that now he's going to leave her as well, and tells her that he loves her. In tears, Emily tells him she will make it okay, that she couldn't for her father - but she will for him. Jaune's vision fades to black, even as she seems to glow. She laughs, and says she never really got to teaching him about semblances - but hers is pretty special.

She tells him she loves him, as a soothing feeling spreads though his body. He feels all the pain vanish, even as he hears something collapse beside him.

Beat 7 -

Jaune is walking up to a house with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He looks behind him and sighs before knocking on the door, seeing an elderly woman come to answer.

"Emily's not in," the woman says, "have you seen my Paul? He should be about your age - still on his mission no doubt."

Jaune hands the woman the flowers, he isn't sure what to say.

"Oh..." the woman says as she looks down on them, a stray tear coming down her cheek, "Emily is out hunting with him... isn't she?"

"She is." Jaune manages to croak out, before turning and leaving.

Flash forward to Jaune talking to a girl who has just blown up, as she shows him her weapon. He asks her why she wants to become a Hunter - and when she answers that she wants to save people, jaune smiles.

He fingers a small broach on his collar and says that sounds like a good dream. Ruby is interested by how quiet he is and asks what his reasons are.

"Me?" He asks with a small smile, "I lost something, and I think by doing this, I might find it again."

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C.F.'s Impression

There's not much to say here, honestly. It's a solid foundation for a romance- which puts it well above 90% of the OC romance fics ever. It's also a tragic romance. Duh. But it doesn't feel... complete.

Remember way back early on, in Healing Hands, where I said that a good backstory change deserves to be a story in and of itself? This is an example. As a stand-alone tragic love story, it's complete. But it really feels like just the start to the real story. A Coeur version of the 'Jaune is competent' restart of Beacon, with all that should follow. Jaune is stronger and free from machismo? Check. Jaune isn't going to be drawn into annoying romance pursuits? Check. Jaune has tragic past to overcome and heal? Check. There's another story out there waiting to be told, and it wasn't- though now I have the perfect suggestion for Coeur to continue if we ever do some sort of 'Continuation' theme week.

I actually feel abit bad for this prompt. Not because it was a bad fill, but because the prompt itself gave Coeur trouble by being too limiting. I wasn't expecting it- I thought that there were a number of ways you could do it. But it was a bit more limiting than I realized- being open about the 'who' isn't the same as being open about the 'what'- and so Coeur got locked in a box of a comedy of sorts which would revolve around 'Jaune's secret girlfriend'... which he chose to subvert with this. More on prompts in a bit.

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Coeur's Reflection:

There's a special bit at the bottom which is going to highlight why I went in this direction, make sure you read that. But for thoughts on this?

It's standard, is about all I can say. A very standard tragic romance with little else to it. I didn't really ever say, but I imaged that after this, when he goes to Beacon - he would be exactly the same as canon, but all with little sad undertones.

Like his flirting with Weiss, purposeful flirting with a girl he knows won't return his feelings, because he is scared to fall for anyone again. His complete obliviousness to Pyrrha? Feigned so he never has to acknowledge her feelings, and run the risk. His friendship with Ruby? Safe because she doesn't think of him that way, and also tender because her dream is something he can get behind. Emily might still have been alive if there were more people like Ruby.

His willingness to get bullied by CRDL - self-repentance, because he feels he caused his lover's death, so what right does he have to not be bullied? The way he fights that Ursa in Forever Fall - continuously attacking even as his aura depletes and he nears death? A complete lack of s***, a desperate desire for vengeance even at the cost of his own life.

But I didn't write that far, meh.

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Author Note: One the topic of Prompts

(Coeur's Thoughts)

No one is infallible when it comes to prompts, certainly not me or CF. Yesterday's story from CF, he said he felt forced by the prompt and I can see why, I made a big mistake there. Because what I gave him wasn't a prompt, but an idea. And he followed it through dutifully, but didn't glean much enjoyment from it. That was my bad.

I felt the same here, trapped by a prompt that felt to me like it only had one real angle. A comedy thing where Jaune has a girlfriend, and all the others band together detective mode to try and figure out who. But I didn't "want" to write that...

I could have gone for a criminal girl - but I'm writing Stress Relief soon, and this would just spoiler it. Some random girl, hell I thought of Coco, Velvet - even Reese from season 3. But the problem for me was... how would it even work? CF's prompt says before beacon - so it HAD to start at initiation in a sense. As for tall, blonde and scraggly comment? Well, the thing is Jaune only knows Weiss, knows Pyrrha - only even gets on his own team BECAUSE of his flirting with Weiss. If he were taken... then what? He dies in initiation?

Okay, let's say the girlfriend unlocks his aura... still what? Pyrrha wouldn't hunt him down, or even know to. And what would it really change about Jaune's personality in any way, a little more confident sure, but that's about it...

As for the detective girls comedy angle, it would have been a short bit where they hunt for the girl, eventually find her... then what? It just ends there, big whoop, I felt...

So where CF swallowed his enjoyment and just went with the IDEA I had clearly spoon fed to him, I railed against it angrily. Instead I took the letter of it and purposefully broke it, taking it down a miserably sad angle almost as a punishment.

What I'm trying to say is. Both of us messed up with the prompts, because they didn't give any freedom - instead they just forced us to do what the other had in mind.

So what makes a good prompt? In my mind it has to be open; "Ren is blind" "Jaune is a faunus" "Jaune has a healing semblence" "Jaune is a prostitute" all of these were pretty damn open in terms of what could be done with them - there is freedom! There's even more freedom in some that don't specify names at all. "After the dance Jaune gets a mysterious admirer who woos him in an old-fashioned manner" - I had complete freedom over who this mysterious person would be, and Hell - I went with Ren! Glorious freedom to create something special.

I think CF often says "if you want to give us prompts, make them prompts and not ideas" - what he means is that if you give us something where you clearly know what direction it's going to go in... then it's an idea. If your prompt is something like "Jaune is a speed-demon like Ruby, and she likes having someone she can relate to" - then we're pretty damn limited in what we can do. Similarly when I gave CF that last one I not only told him what happened, but literally I locked everyone's personalities as opposites - what freedom did CF even have!? As for this one... CF clearly intended for this to be a comedic piece about Jaune's mysterious girlfriend getting all the other girls curious and excited, and again - I felt railroaded.

So yeah, remember guys - a good prompt has openings, it has freedom - and it doesn't lock us into a story YOU want us to write. As CF often says "We're not here to write your stories for you," and what he means by that is if you have a CLEAR idea of a plot, characters - and how it's going to go down? Then write it! But if you've got an open-ended premise, something that just sounds weird but interesting - open-ended and exciting? Feel free to throw it out.

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(College Fool's Thoughts)

Adding onto that a bit. Coeur hits on how a prompt shouldn't be overly leading to a plot- something we're both guilty of from time to time. And you know what? Sometimes that's alright- one of the things about the reviewer prompts is that we can select the prompt we want, especially if it's a plot we have an itch for.

It's just- it can be surprising what comes across as the railroading limiter: for Coeur, it was the 'before Beacon' qualifier. That was almost an afterthought for me- I only used the tall, blond, and handsome allusion to emphasize that it wasn't Weiss- but it was a sticking point for how Coeur could approach things. Similarly, what I found limiting for Coeur's prompt yesterday was the inescapable conclusion- there was no real delimma about whether Jaune should leave the false world, because there was no question if he _could_ leave. It could have been a scenario in which Jaune was locked into the world, and had to earn/win-over his friends who now hated him, and in the process become deserving of the unearned affection of Weiss and CRDL. That may or may not have been better- but it wasn't even an option with the prompt at face value. The idea of 'return to the real world' was baked into the idea- and locked in the reversal of personalities as something static that couldn't really change.

So... how to fix that? I'll take apart a prompt I gave Coeur that even I had to admit was too restrictive- and I'll show you how it could be made better.

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First, the context- after reading one too many fanfics in which Jaune is easily reduced to a blushing mess from a Yang flirt, I tried to recall if this was one of those things that was actually based on anything in-series or it was just one of those fannon things that everyone does because everyone does it. A quick review and question to Coeur turned up... nothing. Neither of us could recall or remember Jaune _ever_ blushing. Probably because of the animation limitations for RWBY... but still. Jaune blushing and becoming a stumbling mess if a girl so much as smiles at him, let alone shares a little skin? Doesn't happen. It's less canon than Blake constantly railing about how it's not smut- something so reliable it's almost a ritual inclusion in fanfiction.

So I had a cool idea. Wouldn't it be fun to subvert fanon expections... with canon truth? Which led to this prompt:

Prompt v1: Yang thought it'd be easy to make Jaune blush. That's why she bet as much money on it with Weiss as she did. Too much, perhaps, when Jaune proves a hard nut to crack. When Weiss's opt out condition is the humiliating admission that Yang's womanly charms are, ahem, insufficient... well, Yang's just going to have to get creative. And escalate.

This is everything that's wrong with a prompt, almost. There's a good idea here, but almost no freedom: the who, the what, the tone, and the plot are already locked in. There are reasons for everything, to be sure. Why Yang? Because she's casually flirtatious, and competitive. Why a bet? It gives her motive to make the attempt for free money, and a trap for her overconfidence. Why Weiss? Weiss has money, and could sting Yang's pride with the opt-out in a reference to chest size. Why continue? Because Yang has money and pride on the line.

These are good reasons- but they're my reasons, and not what Coeur could come up with. Even if he probably would on his own. It's not just a foundation- this practically dictates the first third or half of the story. And that's what came to my mind- here's what Coeur said when I pre-emptively offered to rewrite it.

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Coeur wrote-

For the Yang one... I think I can still make it work, but yeah remove the bet aspect, maybe? i might still use that... but it does kind of railroad me a little. And raises aspects of how would Yang even end up in such a bet?

What would Weiss realistically do to get her interested?

I just struggle to imagine a scenario where Weiss would say "Hey Yang, I bet you can't make Jaune blush." Since for one, Weiss pretty much doesn't even respond or even reference him by first name lol.

Part of me thinks it would be more realistic to have someone like Nora, or even Blake or Ruby try to egg yang into it. Since they are the types to actually raise a bet.

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Which is a great point that I didn't think of- and my lead-in was to cover a point that didn't actually require what I was requiring.

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C.F. wrote-

For the bet- I just had this silly thought that Weiss would get involved into the bet by way of Yang trying to leverage her womanly charms while mocking Weiss's flat chest. A sort of 'Jaune doesn't even blush around me' 'why would he, you're flat like a boy', banter-banter bet. Weiss worked as a moneybags for Yang to try and get money off of, but could offer the humiliating debt relief condition of making Yang confess the inferiority of her useless meat bags (or some such).

Which, frankly, Weiss can still do even if she's not the origin of the bet. So yeah- overly leading. This will make a good teaching prompt.

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(lol, by the way. That's what started this overly-long teaching note.)

To which Coeur responded-

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Coeur wrote-

That was pretty much what I had in mind - forfeit included. It was just that why Jaune? Like I get that Yang comments on her chest one too many times, and that Weiss thinks "I'll get my own back"

But why would she choose Jaune is the big question. Like... Weiss hates him, and from HER point of view - wouldnt care enough to notice if he blushes or not, if you see where I'm coming from?

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And indeed I do. But I didn't when I made the prompt- and instead tried to force Coeur into a bad choice of a start. The Weiss scene of a forfeit is funny, to be sure- but Weiss isn't the best choice to start a bet over Jaune blushing, because Weiss doesn't care. It'd be railroading both the character, and the author, for something that wasn't important to the premise.

So, here came a revised prompt-

Prompt v2: Yang thought it'd be easy to make Jaune blush. That's why she bet as much on it as she did. But when Jaune proves a tougher nut to crack than expected, and Weiss's condition for a loan to forfeit is the humiliating and public admission that Yang's womanly charms are, ahem, inferior... well, Yang's just going to have to get creative.

This is much better- and let's count the ways. Yes, we still have the bet- but the 'who' and 'why' is left to Coeur's decision and comfort. It could be one person- it could be multiple. Yes, we still have the Weiss condition, and the premise that Jaune doesn't blush- and honestly, I'd say the Weiss scene is still too leading. Don't get me wrong, it's a funny idea- Weiss holding the bet over Yang's head as revenge- but it locks down the tone of comedy and could be shorted. Why did I put 'public' AND 'humiliating' in the prompt? That was unnecessary- but you can see I also took out the equally unnecesary 'And escalate' at the end. That 'esalate' would have locked in a practically ecchi tone to the story- Yang flashing more and more skin to get a response. Instead, 'creative' just means she'll try new and unexpected things- which could include the ecchi, if Coeur wanted, but could also be something else.

Who knows- maybe Yang will try to trick/seduce Jaune into thinking she's actually interested, getting him emotionally invested and open, just to win a bet. That could be a serious romance fodder. Or maybe 'creative' means she'll try and get Jaune to hang Jaune upside down so that the blood rushes to his head so she can claim a win. Or maybe both are combined, and Yang takes him on an amusement park. Point is, Coeur has a choice. It's open ended.

And honestly, if I wasn't fixated on the Weiss scene... here's how the prompt could be.

Prompt v3: Yang thought it'd be easy to make Jaune blush. That's why she bet as much on it as she did. But when Jaune proves a tougher nut to crack than expected... well, Yang's just going to have to get creative.

Notice how the prompt is now the bones of the concept, without the fat or trying to fill in the meat. What are the core essentials of this idea? 1: Yang tries to make Jaune blush for selfish reasons. 2: Jaune doesn't blush. 3: Yang is committed to trying anyway. Everything else is up for Coeur to do according to his taste and ideas.

Would Coeur come up with the idea of a Weiss forfeit scene if I didn't suggest it? Possibly not. But that' the cost I should take. It's not his job to write what I want- again, we try to give prompts, not plots. In guiding so much for that one cool scene, which is still a good scene, I railroaded Coeur into wanting to subvert or sabotage the broader idea because we're both contrarians like that.

Here's what Coeur thought-

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Coeur wrote-

But the last variation works better, it's not that Weiss was a bad pick - just that it didn't make sense to me how she would care to notice that Jaune doesn't blush... since Weiss would NEVER want to ever try anything that "might" make him blush. Or even acknowledge his existence in many cases...

At least on the other side of things, someone like Blake or Ruby would have an argument for noticing. Ruby in that he is her friend, and Blake on her general nature as one who observes.

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So Coeur likes the idea. May even still use it. And, in truth, that might not have happened had I started off with v3. But regardless- with less railroading, Coeur is freer (and more likely to) embrace the spirit of the prompt in good cheer.

So keep that in mind- and think about how you can parse off the unnecessary parts of a prompt to make it something we both find enjoyable.

Bad:

Yang thought it'd be easy to make Jaune blush. That's why she bet as much money on it with Weiss as she did. Too much, perhaps, when Jaune proves a hard nut to crack. When Weiss's opt out condition is the humiliating admission that Yang's womanly charms are, ahem, insufficient... well, Yang's just going to have to get creative. And escalate.

The good: An amusing conceit

The bad: defines characters unnecessarily, dictates the early plot, dictates tone as an ecchi rom-com, defies freedom for direction. The plot even towards the end is locked by the word 'escalate.'

Better:

Prompt v2: Yang thought it'd be easy to make Jaune blush. That's why she bet as much on it as she did. But when Jaune proves a tougher nut to crack than expected, and Weiss's condition for a loan to forfeit is the humiliating and public admission that Yang's womanly charms are, ahem, inferior... well, Yang's just going to have to get creative.

The good: More open opening to start with. Suggests a direction, but gives freedom in interpretation of 'creative.' No locked in ending or relationship dynamic.

The bad: Still tries to control the tone and reasoning via the Weiss scene. A pairing is implied- Yang flirting with Jaune to get him to blush.

Best:

Prompt v3: Yang thought it'd be easy to make Jaune blush. That's why she bet as much on it as she did. But when Jaune proves a tougher nut to crack than expected... well, Yang's just going to have to get creative.

The good: Intended/desired tone is implicit (comedy), but not dictated. Plot is open for Coeur's imagination. No pairings required, or even implied: Yang could try and get Jaune to blush by flirting herself, or by hooking him up with another girl to get her to make him blush, or anything else. Very open.

The bad: The lack of a really cool Weiss scene, and the loss of 'pride' as a motivating factor. Were the Weiss scene never raised and the first to be posed, Yang's motivation would amount to money and money alone- not pride, comedic or otherwise.

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And so there you have it. Prompt advice 101.


	41. Winter is Coming

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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D.C. Draco Prompt – Jaune never went to Beacon instead became a wandering musician with his trusted guitar/sword/shield, Weiss was a Talented Singer and a cold hearted heiress, after saving said heiress from a burning bullhead after a failed WF bombimg will our Musical Knight melt the heiress heart or will he froze at her glacial glare

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D.C Draco - I'm altering your prompt a little, as it has the potential, but is currently too idea-centric.

Jaune never went to Beacon instead became a wandering musician with his trusted guitar/sword/shield, Weiss was a Talented Singer and a cold hearted heiress, after saving said heiress from a burning bullhead after a failed WF bombimg will our Musical Knight melt the heiress heart or will he froze at her glacial glare

At the moment this is too much, it's a full plot idea and everything is set in stone, so I'm going to cut it down to what I really think a short and open-ended prompt might be.

New Prompt: Jaune never went to Beacon instead he became a wandering musician.

Intro

The Story begins in medias res, that is to say - without a background piece. Jaune is performing for a large group of people in a crowded bar. The lights are flashing and he's playing the acoustic as men and women sway to the chords. He thinks about the atmosphere, the joy on their faces - how it is HE who created that joy - and it makes him immensely proud.

It is all interrupted though as a major fight breaks out, with a blonde smashing a red-tied goon into a glass pillar. The Yellow trailer plays out, with Yang decimating Junior's club. Jaune watches it all in horror, unsure what he can do - what he is supposed to do. Matters get worse when the girl sees him and makes to attack him. He recoils but she clearly decides he isn't a threat at the last moment, even as he falls on his rear in terror. As the staff and Malachite twins are decimated the girl grins as she looks over the devastation, she smirks at Jaune and tosses him some lien. Saying it was a good show, before leaving.

Jaune looks down at the notes in his lap, at the shattered glass and groaning people - and crumples them in his fist, throwing them aside.

Hunters... he thinks to himself angrily, all they do is destroy.

He leaves the club angrily, his beloved guitar a broken ruin on the ground. It's an introductory chapter to show the subtle differences in Jaune's backstory, without giving any of it away. Jaune has a bad image of hunters, thinking them violent narcissists who believe they are always in the right, quick to use force to resolve any and all problems. At the same time he knows they are a necessary evil, but wishes they would just go outside the walls and do their damn job.

Jaune looks about the streets of Vale, and thinks that maybe it isn't the place for him after all. Instead he plans to take the next airship to Atlas. (We see Passenger planes in the show... at the Amity Collosseum, are they Bullheads too? Who even knows).

Arc 1

Jaune steps off the vehicle in Atlas, clutching his stomach as he throws a brown paper bag into the trash. The city is far more structured than Vale, busier - with vehicles flying to and fro, some military, some more for personal use. The buildings are all lighter colours too, whites, greys and silver - but the people look the same as any others.

What does catch his eye are the number of soldiers on the streets, some with robots - guarding corners and the like. Picking up his courage Jaune approaches one to ask if they know of anywhere he can get his guitar repaired. To his surprise the soldiers are polite, with one radioing the question somewhere and getting an answer. Jaune is impressed, though the soldiers simply say it's their duty to not only protect the citizens but put them at ease too. Armed with directions and well wishes Jaune heads to the place where he can have his beloved instrument restored.

The store is well-organised and simple enough. Jaune has enough money thanks to his work as a wandering minstrel in Vale, here we would get a little more backstory hints - as he thinks about how he travels from club to pubs, anywhere really - always offering a show in exchange for a room for the night, and a share of any extra profits he brings in with his act. The landlords often agree after some assurances that if he doesn't draw a crowd he won't ask for a thing and will quietly leave. But that so far none have been dissatisfied.

He's fairly confident he can do the same in Atlas too, and pays for the repairs. The Shopkeeper engages him in some small chat to help flesh out the backstory a little, and also invites Jaune to give him a sample on one of the spare guitars.

(A quick note here, I can play guitar a little, but I memorize finger positions for songs more than actually know chords - for a fic like this though I would research some, and have him play songs to make it more immersive. In a summary though, ofc that is skipped).

The Shopkeeper is impressed and actually suggests a club that might be willing to give Jaune a go if he's willing. Jaune thinks it a lucky break, especially how he has no reputation in Atlas at all, a starting gig is just the sort of thing he needs. A reference he can use to find other work. The Shopkeep explains that it's more of an exclusive tea room and diner for well-to-do patrons, but that'll fit well with his acoustic music anyway. Sometimes they do piano too, but he knows the owner - and says he wants a bit more modern style.

Jaune agrees to meet with the Shopkeeper and the club owner.

Arc 2

Jaune meets with the owner, who is unimpressed with Jaune's appearance, but likes his music. He asks if Jaune would be willing to wear different clothes - to which he is fine. Jaune is bedecked in a dark suit, one he could ill-afford himself, but that the owner jokingly calls a gift and a bribe. "Consider it me sweetening the deal, I'd like to keep you happy after all if you're going to be working for me."

As the club opens and diners come to drink and eat Jaune slowly plays away, enjoying the appreciative looks the people give him. There's no dancing like in the clubs, but well-dressed ladies and gentlemen applaud nonetheless, and some of the tips he receives are downright incredible compared to his normal ones. Makes sense though considering the cost of the food at the restaurant - but Jaune is also pleased to see how happy all the staff look. Customer service is key, and the boss achieves that by genuinely keeping everyone happy. There's even some faunus among the staff, though most of those work in the kitchens. They too look well-fed and paid though.

Jaune calls it a night quite pleased with the show, and even gets a small chat with General Ironwood, who compliments his music and introduces him to Penny. Jaune is uncomfortable with them being Hunters, but rationalises Ironwood away as a General, and Penny as a customer.

The boss asks if Jaune will stay awhile, perhaps do a few more nights or consider full-time employment. Jaune denies the latter, but promises to stay for a few days, and maybe even pop back now and then after if the boss will have him.

Another day passes, with Jaune wandering the streets of Atlas. he sees advertisements for the Vytal Festival and rolls his eyes. Just another chance for Hunters to show off while not actually doing their job in any way. Glory over results, as usual.

On the second night Jaune again plays for the assorted audience, but this time notices a few new additions to the customers. Namely a large round table with some very well-dressed people at it. Including an old man, and a very sharp looking woman with white hair. He doesn't recognise them, but can easily notice how excited and determined the staff are being. They're pulling out all the extra customer service they can on this party. Jaune does the same, pulling out some of his best songs.

As the night continues he starts to notice the woman looking at him more and more however. It's not something unusual, as a performer people are always watching him - it's usually a sign that they enjoy the music and are paying attention.

Her expression is more neutral however, and doesn't give off any signs of enjoyment or pleasure. He continues however, his discipline as a performer pushing him on.

As the night ends he is surprised to find the woman approach him, saying something to the elderly gentleman, who scoffs but nods. She introduces herself as Winter, and says she enjoyed his music. It's a strange meeting, as she is utterly cold and emotionless, there's really no "sign" of her having enjoyed his music - but at the same time she doesn't look like the type of person to mince words.

She hands him a business card and says she would like to hire him for a few nights, to perform for some guests, and also for her. She offers him board at the Schnee mansion and also fabulous pay. Jaune hesitates, though he sees all the staff nodding that he should definitely say yes. Winter senses his hesitation and comments that it would only be for a few nights, three at most.

Jaune agrees, and receives directions and a letter to prove his invitation to a party - it will convince the guards to let him in.

Winter leaves, and Jaune is approached by his boss, etc... who are all thrilled for him and reveal who Winter is, and who that party was. The Schnee President himself, and the Board of Directors. Jaune is surprised, he knows their reputation but doesn't really care. He remembers briefly Weiss Schnee, who he once admired for her singing - before she went and became just another hunter.

Still, to perform at a ball - that's a step up.

Arc 3

Jaune arrives at the Schnee mansion, is let in by the guards and briefly meets with Winter. The President nods at him, but dismisses him as hired help. Winter begs his forgiveness, her face still utterly neutral and emotionless.

Long story short, there is a ball - Jaune plays, is applauded - he samples some food from the buffet and watches people as they go about. His eyes spot Winter, who smiles and plays the hostess, though even to him it looks brittle and forced. He thinks that in a way she is as much a performer as he is.

Jaune goes back up to do another set, and really the night just continues on - nothing crazy (No Bullhead crashing through the roof), etc... Jaune even has a few business cards offered to him, people who might want to use his services in the future.

Winter thanks him at the end of the night, and surprises him by saying his music made the night more bearable for her. It's a strange moment as she is STILL fairly emotionless, but her words are very honest. He thinks that it's a strange dichotomy, that she can say so much while looking so emotionless. Jaune waves off the thanks, saying he is glad he could help her - she looked a little strained. Winter is surprised but calls him perceptive, just saying something about it being less a party for her, and more another business meeting - just on a grander scale.

She wishes him goodnight, and he luxuriates in how incredibly lush the room is.

The next day Jaune receives breakfast in bed from a maid - before another advises him that he is to spend the day with Winter - which surprises him. But she DID hire him for three days, so it kind of makes sense.

He is shown to Winter's room, where the two chat - which feels awkward for Jaune, given her lack of emotions. She asks about his past, and he hers in return. It's small chatter, with nothing really given. In the end she asks him to play for her and he does so, pleased to do something he feels more confident in. Winter closes her eyes as she listens, and for the first time he sees real pleasure on her face, not in terms of smiles - but in the way her face relaxes. The little signs of stress, her creased brow - all disappearing.

She admits after that music is something she finds rare joy in - his especially. But that she has never had any talent herself - her little sister once did, but that was a long time ago, and Winter is sad to say her sister didn't appreciate it as much as she would have. One of the few things she is truly jealous over.

Winter has to meet a client that day too, and asks if Jaune won't come along. Nothing much happens, other than Jaune seeing Winter at her worst - an efficient and ruthless businesswoman who secures the best deal for the SDC, at the expense of the supplier. He doesn't say much as they drive home, but he can see her stress. He follows her into her room and plays for her, Winter falls asleep from the music, and he wishes her goodnight as he leaves - letting Winter's maids ready her for bed. One of the maids thanks Jaune personally for what he's done, though she won't go into detail on what or why.

Arc 4 -

Two days stretches into three, and Winter wants to listen to him at every opportunity. When Jaune mentions leaving the next day she says she will hire him for more. Jaune expresses regret but says he is a wandering minstrel, he doesn't like to sit still and wants to explore.

Winter shocks him by begging, genuinely begging (though hardly on hands and knees) for just one more day. She will pay him anything, and offers him ten times the amount he has earned so far. Jaune turns it down, but surprises her by saying he will stay one more day - at the normal rate.

The final day is awkward. Winter takes him out into Atlas and shows him some of the best locations. At first he is confused, but soon realises she is trying to impress him, to show him all the things he can have if he accepts her offer and stays at the SDC. It's childish, in a very sad sense, because she doesn't seem to know how to convince him other than to try and dazzle him with wealth and baubles. Although she is as emotionless as ever, he can feel the desperation in her actions.

When he plays for her in the evening she looks desolate, though again, it's always in the way she carries herself - the way her eyes don't close this time as he plays, but instead are locked onto his. Like she is trying to memorise everything. When he finishes she asks about his wanderlust, why he wants to keep moving.

Jaune admits that there's no good reason for it. It's just that he wants to see different places, incredible new sights and experience things. Remnant is a big place, he says - and I want to be able to say Ive seen it all.

"The Vytal Tournament," Winter suddenly says - as she builds up an image of what it's like. Jaune admits that he isn't a fan of hunter events, but she says it's still an event not to be missed. Something that brings in tens of thousands of people, a crowd all moved in one spirit. She throws his own words back at him, the things he likes about performing. Eventually Jaune admits that it sounds interesting - and Winter says she will be going there in a few days.

Come with her. If it's wandering he wants so badly, then what better place to go? What better sights to see? She presents her case logically, and despite KNOWING he should say no, because he's genuinely worried about how desperate she is sounding - his heart breaks and he says yes. He's surprised to find he cares about her, and can't bring himself to turn her down when she is only doing what he really wants.

(Okay issue here - would need to change arc 1 to have a timeskip between the Yang intro, and landing in Atlas. Suggest that he stayed in Vale for another month or so, before giving up and leaving. That will fit time line).

Arc 5 -

Jaune is on the personal airship of Winter Schnee as they approach the Vytal Festival. The two chat amicably, and Jaune is pleased to see Winter is back to her confident self - now that his attendance is assured. The conversation is also less awkward, and despite his mistrust of hunters he finds himself looking forward to the event.

Winter asks about his issues, saying that he does know she is hunter-trained? But Jaune waves it off, saying she might be trained but clearly isn't a Huntress. Hell, she never even brings her weapon around other than official events. Winter nods and admits that all Schnee have to learn Hunter skills to be eligible for their inheritance, but that it doesn't mean they need to become hunters - just graduate.

"Is that what you sister is doing?" Jaune asks, only to get a sad shake of her head. Winter explains that Weiss wants to change things, to become a Huntress proper. She also sadly says the very goal is incompatible with her dream - for an active Huntress cannot run an organisation, let alone invoke the kind of changes she wants.

Jaune meets the staff at Beacon, and also Weiss briefly. Weiss reacts... poorly to Jaune - not aggressively, but accusatory and dismissive, which Winter doesn't appreciate. Instead Winter comes to his defence over Weiss, shocking the younger girl and firmly marking Jaune as an enemy in her eyes.

Matters are made worse when Jaune reacts poorly to Weiss' team, one of which he recognises as a violent psycho, and Ruby he dismisses as being a preppy Huntress. Blake... well she doesn't even try to introduce herself, but the way she looks angrily at Winter doesn't do much to inspire her to Jaune.

Similarly Winter's meeting with Qrow ends poorly, when a fight is started between them. Qrow says something dismissive about the SDC, and manages to get under Winter's skin by implying that they have caused the increased White Fang activity that threatens the kingdoms. Jaune is angry when Winter gets roped into the fight, and pretty much drags her away afterwards.

Winter is in a public situation though, and as she can't be seen accepting a dressing down from an employee dismisses Jaune's comments as idiocy. Jaune is shocked and annoyed. And when he refuses to play for her later, she admits it was just for show - the SDC reputation. Jaune isn't moved though, saying that he thought they were beyond that. He dared to think they were friends. Winter assures him they are, but he retires to his room without responding to her.

Arc 6 -

The fights start, and it's clear from the way Winter and Jaune are dancing around one another that the argument is not settled. Winter is trying to patch things up in her usual way, by spoiling him like a child with fine food and drink.

As they watch RWBY demolish team whoever-the-hell-they-were Ironwood comes over to talk with Jaune, recognising him from the club. The chat is friendly enough. Ironwood doesn't bring it t hunters or anything else, and Jaune and he talk about Atlas and Vale and little else. Winter interrupts though, in an almost petulant manner - displeased to have Jaune's attention away from her. Ironwood chuckles but says he will see Jaune later perhaps, and if not - to enjoy the rest of the tournament.

They watch the rest in silence.

As they go back to their rooms Winter gets angry, demanding to know what she is supposed to do with him. She's tried giving him things, tried convincing him about what she did. Jaune just stands there silently as she rants. Her face finally showing emotion - though it's anger in this case. After she rants though she hiccoughs, she doesn't break down - not Winter - but it's clear she is in an emotional state.

She turns away from him, saying she's sorry brokenly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for embarrassing you, and I'm sorry for not knowing what to do. I don't know what to do, I don't know what to say!"

Jaune hugs her from behind, saying that was all he needed. A heartfelt apology. She doesn't need to do or say anything incredible, just that she is sorry for wronging him. She turns and hugs him back, hiding her face in his chest as she calms her breathing. She doesn't cry, by this point he is beginning to think she's lost the ability - that the pressure of being the Schnee has damaged her so much that she cannot. A schnee doesn't dry - and so a Schnee cannot cry.

He plays for her, soft melodies that calm her - and she leans against him as she listens. Winter talks as he plays, saying how his music soothes her, how it lets her calm down and be herself. As she talks however she starts to accidentally miss out the words "his music" saying it is he who makes her happy, she always wants to listen to him, wants to see him.

She shocks him by kissing him once she's finished. A clumsy motion, she doesn't know what to do - she just presses her lips against his with her eyes closed. Somehow it's an endearing motion though and Jaune leads her though it, he's more worldly after his time as a minstrel, and shows her the joys of the kiss - how to do it, he coaxes a colour other than white to her face for the first time - and the two do the deed (man I love how unromantic that sounds) in Winter's room.

Arc 7 -

The rest of the Vytal Festival is pretty tame in comparison. Winter is happy, being brighter and healthier than she's ever been before. Everyone notices, and Ironwood even nods and smiles suggestively at Jaune - who completely gives it away by blushing. He meets Weiss a few more times, who seems to have calmed down somewhat and offers tentative gestures of peace towards Jaune.

Jaune does the same, not really liking her or her team any more than he did - but knowing Weiss is trying to be the bigger person he accepts it. There's no Chuunin invasion in this, and as they leave there's not even a case of a Bullhead piloted by College Fool. instead they arrive back in Atlas safely, and retire to their rooms - though Winter surprises Jaune by sneaking into his after the lights go out. The two make love once more, and come the morning even have a shower together. Winter seems ecstatic, though Jaune only feels nervous.

That day Jaune lays the bad news on Winter. The Vytal Tournament is over, and he is going to leave soon. He's already spent more time than he ever intended to there. Winter is shocked, she completely forgot about it, and with all the emotions and stress it catches her completely off-guard.

Without thinking she says he can't. Jaune knows it's a misuse of words and laughs softly as he hugs her, saying they'll keep in touch and will be happy to come back and see her often. She breaks free of his hold though, shaking her head. No, he can't. He won't. She won't let him.

Emotions take a turn for the worse as Winter boldly states she will keep him with her if she has to. She calls her bodyguards and orders them to keep Jaune locked in his room. He is to have access to his own and hers, but cannot leave the premises. Jaune still laughs, telling her not to do anything silly - but she is beyond caring. She leaves the room to gather herself, even as Jaune shouts for her to rethink this. The guards restrain him.

Jaune is stuck in the room angry, at himself, Winter, the guards - everything really. In his rage he takes his guitar and smashes it on the floor, breaking into hundreds of pieces as he slams away at it. He sits on the bed, head in his hands and unsure what to do.

That night Winter comes to his rooms again, dressed in nothing but a nightgown. Jaune accepts her into his bed, but the coupling is rough, almost punishing. She is in as much discomfort as pleasure, but she accepts it all with a loving expression. He is harsh and quick, taking pleasure for himself and giving none in return as they both fall asleep.

Come the morning though he is horrified. Her wrists have the faint signs of bruising, her skin flushed red where he was too rough with her. Winter doesn't say anything, kissing him even as she leaves - but he can't forget what he did to her. Nor the look of pain in her eyes as he took her. The confusion.

Jaune decides he has to make a decision. He could stay, choose to be with her - treat her properly. But even then he fears his bitter resentment, the lack of his ability to make a decision will stain their relationship. Make it so that he treats her poorly.

Instead he escapes, with the help of Winter's personal Butler who he reasons to - explaining his fears. The Butler does what is best for Winter, whether she desires it or not, and Jaune escapes into the night.

Arc 8 -

Jaune leaves Atlas, wanting to put all memories of the place behind him. Instead he returns to Vale, to the place it all began at Junior's bar. The place is repaired, but still shows signs of the damage - it is there that he drowns himself in alcohol. Using the money he earned to wash away his guilt more than anything else.

Yang finds him there, saying that she only came for information - but hey, he made the job easier. She's looking for him. Jaune tries to drunkenly fight her off but she knocks him about without hurting him, before dragging him back to her team.

Weiss is unimpressed with him but slaps him nonetheless. She shouts about how Winter has broken down, how she's become a shell of herself thanks to him. Jaune rails back, arguing about the things Winter did wrong - only for Weiss to silence him again with another slap.

"Why are you telling me these things?" Weiss asks angrily, "why are you not telling my sister? Sorting it out like an adult? Instead Yang finds you wasting away in some... hole!"

Yang drives the point deeper, saying he is running away rather than confronting his problems. It tears at him, but as they leave Ruby comes to him, telling him about how angry she was when she lost her mother. How she made bad decisions too. About how her father broken down, and their family was nearly sundered - before Qrow stepped in and they slowly fixed things. It's not a perfect lesson, but the morale is that sometimes bad things happen, but you can work them out if you try.

Jaune nods his head without answering.

Winter arrives the next day. She looks a mess, and he knows it's his fault - she rushes to him but stops. Unsure how to approach him and he can see the hesitation plain on her face. She's afraid to startle him almost, despite how much she wants to hold him. In his place, he too finds himself pleased to see her, wants to touch her and have her warmth against him - but doesn't feel he has any right to after what he did.

It is Weiss who breaks the ice, completely unimpressed with the both of them she lists out his faults, then lists out Winters. "You're both a mess" she says as she throws her hands in the air "but I guess in a way you're both my mess - so I'll sort it out."

Weiss plays complete intermediary, saying how Winter tried to limit Jaune's freedom, taking away his choice in the matter. Winter is horrified and apologises, saying she didn't know what to think or feel. Jaune, on the other hand, Weiss says - doesn't seem to know how to commit to anything. He's flighty and indecisive, his wandering is less a desire to see everything but more one of running away, trying to distract himself from real life by going to new places.

Jaune accepts it. He knows his career isn't a sustainable thing, he's homeless and alone, living off the goodwill of landlords and his own skills. He hasn't seen his family in years.

Winter says she wants him back, that she realises she was wrong and wants to work with him. She's willing to travel with him, or even let him travel alone - so long as he doesn't go for too long, or all the time. She won't try to keep him a prisoner, but at the same time if he wants things to work then she can't just be some girl he comes to whenever he feels like it.

Jaune says he does have feelings for her, he just wasn't sure how to address them. He lists out his fault, his lack of a job - a career - a home. But Winter seems unimpressed. Why would she need any of those things? Her career is a constant stress, her home a maze of fixed faces and fake smiles. She doesn't want any of those things. She wants him.

Jaune looks at her, wondering how she can say all those things while still showing so little. Even when he's used words like broken to describe her - it's always been more about the way she acted, the way she talked. Yet he is surprised to find he can notice the small things on her face. Can read them as easily as the most over-the-top expressions. Smiles, frowns, tears - she shows none, and yet he sees them easily.

"I can't promise things will work out," he says softly, but Winter just sighs and interrupts.

"Things might not, but they won't ever if we never try."

"I'm willing to," Jaune says, "no, more than that. I want to try. I won't try to run away any more."

Winter surprises him however when she kisses him, saying that she doesn't mind if he wants to run away and do what he loves every now and then, so long as he takes her with him. She doesn't need to be at the SDC all the time, and exploring the world sounds like fun.

Jaune laughs and agrees, feeling silly for how he acted.

Winter smiles at him properly - the first one he's really seen from her, and it's enough to prompt him to take her in his arms and kiss her properly - until Weiss coughs.

"Can you give us some space?" He asks pointedly.

"This is OUR room," Weiss shrieks, "you certainly may NOT ask for space."

"Heh," Yang laughs, "I guess what they say is true; Winter is coming."

"Ugh..." everyone groans.

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C.F.'s Impression:

This prompt/fill came about because Coeur was short on time and didn't feel he could give a good fill to one of my prompts, even some low-expectation trashy ones. Naturally, he then wrote his longest fill yet. Join the darkside, Coeur!

Aside from being annoyingly close to a prompt I still want to give to Coeur (yes, it's Jaune as a musician), it's an interesting fill none the less. The original prompt was, in a (mean) word, trash- I'll admit I could barely read through it, and personally had no interest in it. But Coeur found the jewel in the gutter, and showed what a good prompt can lead to.

I've no strong thoughts to raise, so I'll just point out some random stuff and call it a comment.

Winter's still a bit of a blank slate character at this point, so Coeur got his last shot of writing her however he wants before canon starts to interfere. Emotionally stunted rich girl wasn't what I was expected, but it was done in an interesting way. It was a good tie-in to the idea of Jaune as a musician, and the power-dynamic of rich aristocrat and poor minstrel was very, very well done. Seriously- the role money plays into and around a relationship almost never gets touched on, and for Winter to try and spoil Jaune into loving her just emphasized her emotional difficulties and thus humanized her attempts as a rich girl trying for love.

I do think Jaune himself is the weaker part here- because there's not much that identifies Jaune as 'Jaune', the character we know, as opposed to an OC with the same name and appearance. It's not impossible, just under-supported, and that's needed for something where Jaune has none of his dreams, no mentions of his family, no... well, anything that really characterizes Jaune as Jaune. He's not bad with woman, or insecure, and there's precious little justification besides 'well, he was a minstrel.' Backstory development could help that- I'd go for something explaining his (lack of) family- but right now, it's absent.

You can spot Coeur doing what I often do with Ruby- the wisdom of the innocent, or from the mouth of babes, or whatever you'd like to call it. As a sincere character with the occasional insight, Ruby's great for reconciliation pieces. I really should cast her as a counselor at some point.

(Actually, that's not a bad idea. Oh Coeur...)

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Coeur's Reflection:

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Got worse come the ending, the romance at the end needs a little tweaking, but there you go. Another messed up romance courtesy of me. I like the weird romances that are unhealthy and start for awful reasons.

I just feel like she got too emotional too quickly - writing this in full I would have had her stick to her cold expressions, even when she was breaking down. It's her words and actions that show her distress.

That didn't come across in a summary, as this is all "tell" and just tells you how she feels.


	42. Special: Coeur's Writing Class

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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C.F.'s Prompt- Beacon academics include fanfiction writing classes.

Well, sorta. There is no prompt today. Coeur and I are both remarkably busy, too busy for writing and comments. We do have something for you though- the abandoned concept of a fic we discussed on making an in-universe writing lessons for better fanfic writing. The concept was the idea first started by The Official Fanfiction University of Middle Earth: a fanfic about how to write fanfics.

The Vale Writing Academy project died- Coeur does private lessons for people interesting in hiring his sources- but it's still a good thing. SO here's for something a little different.

Also- take note at the special author comment at the end.

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 **Here's a rough and ready example of a romance structure lesson for the proposed VWA story.**

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Romance Structure – Plotting a Romance

With Professor Coeur al'Aran

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Jaune shuffled his way into the writing class, pens and paper firmly gripped in his hands as he looked for a seat among the sea of expectant students. It certainly looked like the VWA was remaining as popular as it had when it had started. Finally however, he was able to find a seat next to Ren, who for once in his life, didn't seem to have Nora nearby.

"She's got detention with Goodwitch." The young man explained with a shrug. "Something about tenderising a steak. I'm sure you can guess what with."

Yeah. That was Nora for you, he supposed. The conversation in the room started to draw to a close as Professor Al'aran pushed his way into the room, strolling towards the central podium before arranging a few pieces of paper. The class waited. Silent.

"Today," The grey-haired man began after a few long moments. "We'll be covering the structure of romance stories. How to plan them, how a romance should progress in a story, before finishing with a brief example of how to make up a romance story."

This was one of the classes Jaune knew he needed. All his fics had romance in them in one way or another, he had his favourite pairings. But he'd also done some mix and matching among the other pairings too.

"Romance is a simple concept. Two people meet, become attracted to one another, and then get together. Simple in theory, but incredibly complex in execution." The man took another pause here, violet eyes scanning over the various students. "This class will not cover how to write romantic scenes, nor how to write any intimate encounters. We will be covering structure, plotting and idea generation. These other topics will be covered in other classes. But what you must know is thus; without a good plot, without good structure. It does not matter how well-written your romance is, it will fail."

"First. Let's take a look at some famous romance examples. Consider if you will, the fictional story of the cruise ship – Titanic. A well-known tale for sure, and hugely successful. The two main characters of the love story are Jack and Rose, they meet, fall in love and… well, one dies. Not all romance stories have happy endings. The important thing to note however, is that there is much more involved in the plot than the barebones I just outlined. Can anyone recall what Jack's history was?"

"A low-class gambler." Blake answered instantly from a few seats down. Somehow it didn't surprise him that she knew the story, considering how many romance novels she had read. "He won a ticket to the Titanic in a card game."

"Correct Miss Belladonna, and who else can recall Rose's background?"

"An upper-class lady." Ren answered this time, shrugging apologetically when Jaune offered him an incredulous gaze. Ren read romantic literature? Who knew!? "She was to be married to another man, an arranged marriage if I recall."

"Indeed Mr Lie, so already our two lovers are separated by social standing, as well as obligation. Rose feels she must marry who she is told to, she has no freedom and longs for it. Jack has freedom but little else. There is an immediate attraction _because_ of this fact. She loves his free spirit and strong will. He loves her passion and kindness. A good romance _needs_ this attraction. There must be a clear and acceptable reason for two people to fall in love, else how are we as readers to believe it? Mr Lie, do you recall how the two met?"

The Eastern boy took a moment to think at this, brow scrunching up slightly before he shook his head in the negative.

"Not to worry my boy, there is much to remember. In any romance story there needs to be a meeting, a way in which the two come to meet one another so that they can develop their attraction. It's important that this meeting takes place as soon as possible, or the story will falter. Often chapter one or two of a story. In Titanic, Rose felt trapped by her obligation to marry a man she could never love, and attempted to commit suicide. Jack talks her down, asking her not to do it and trying to show her a better way to live."

"I'm sure my colleagues will have mentioned how we should all seek to fight cliché, well this manner of romantic meeting is about as anti-cliché as you can get! It's dramatic enough to be memorable, while also making enough sense to be believable. It immediately creates a strong reason for the two to spend time with one another, so their romance can blossom. It also introduces one of the key points of any romance story."

The Professor stopped, looking about at them as they waited for his answer.

"Conflict!" He shouted after a moment, causing many of them to jump slightly in surprise. "There can be no story without conflict, no saga without the monster. No romance without drama. If there is nothing which fights _against_ the romance, then what keeps us wanting to read on? How many fanfictions have you all read where the two get together in the first chapter? Where they know who they love, both love one another and everyone is supportive of their relationship. Shyly they ask one another out, and lo and behold the other person feels the same way!"

"It's boring, boring, boring!"

Jaune's shoulders drooped a little in his seat, knowing he was responsible for a few fics like that as well… particularly his harem ones where the girls would fall for the guy on first sight.

"Class tell me. In Titanic, what conflicts seek to keep the two lovers apart?"

"He's poor."

"Different social class."

"She's engaged to marry someone else."

"In those times women didn't get to choose."

"The ship sinks."

There was a round of laughter at the last one, though the teacher held out a hand to stop them offering any more.

"Very good, and the final one is also a conflict. The ultimate one that forces Jack to choose what he values more. His life, or his new love. Your other points were correct as well, though there are more. Social class is a conflict, but it's also Rose's lack of confidence that causes her problems. She could elope easily enough if she felt confident about herself. Similarly Jack's flighty nature makes him not dare suggest anything to her, as he fears it is a passing attraction. They both hesitate, to a tragic end."

"In comparison, let's look at the most common pairing in Beacon. Ruby and Weiss."

"What!?" The resident heiress screamed, apparently not having realised there were those kind of rumours circulating about them. On the other end of the class Jaune could make out Ruby, sinking into her seat in horror.

"Many of these stories involve both characters already loving one another at the start, but not knowing how to reveal their feelings. Already the authors have skipped the development stage, ignoring growing feelings and confusion. You must avoid this. Falling in love, is just as important as shacking up with someone, and it makes for much more interesting reading."

"By skipping this, you are only left with a single conflict point – do I tell her how I feel? And when ultimately the answer is yes, and Weiss returns Ruby's feelings-"

"I don't!"

"- the two get together… and that's really the end of the story. Or it should be in a structured romance story. Instead fanfictions drag things on needlessly, considering the relationship more important than how it started. Fanservice, and little else. I'm sure my colleagues have already covered the importance of every story _having_ an end."

"Most romance stories follow a relatively similar system, often known as a beat system. I'll list the beats now, before giving you some mainstream examples of them in use."

The Professor stepped away from the podium, taking out a piece of chalk as he began to write on the large board. Jaune leaned forward to better read the cursive writing.

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 _Beat 1 – The Hook – Why the protagonist needs/wants romance._

 _Beat 2 – The Meeting – The two characters meet and an attraction, or reason for one, is established._

 _Beat 3 – Conflict Point 1 – Wherein the protagonist realises they should not be together, as it conflicts with their goal/dream/beliefs._

 _Beat 4 – Raising the stakes – Wherein the two characters are bound together, despite the conflict. They accept their love/relationship/attraction._

 _Beat 5 – Conflict Point 2 – The relationship looks good, all is working, but there is niggling doubt. The conflict continues to gnaw away at them, it's a false happiness._

 _Beat 6 – The Black Moment – It all goes wrong, all hope is lost. The relationship seems doomed._

 _Beat 7 – Resolution – Obstacles overcome, romance achieved, or tragic ending._

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"This is the seven beat system, which has many different iterations and names, but most of the points remain the same. As you can see, there are various opportunities for tension, drama, and ultimately there is almost always a black moment. This makes the ending all the sweeter, for nearly being hopeless just before."

"I'm sure you can see how the Titanic works within this frame. The hook is that they are both trapped on a boat together, with Rose being desperate for freedom. The meeting is where she attempts to end her life and is comforted by him. The first conflict comes as they realise their social class stands against their budding relationship – yet they continue onwards. Beat 4, raising the stakes comes in when they make love to one another, effectively taking Rose's chastity which could see her engagement ruined."

"The second conflict point comes when her family learns of Jack, and he is forced to attend a dinner with them, though they just about make it through that. After which comes the black moment… the iceberg. And we all know what happens from that point on."

Jaune gulped in his seat, not having read the book, but having seen the movie once with his sisters. He wasn't afraid to admit that he had cried at the time, it had been a really emotional movie. He'd certainly not cried as much as his mother though, good Lord…

"Perhaps then it might be a good idea to look at a happier story too, a romcom in fact. Atlesian Pie 3: The Wedding. Admittedly it is a movie, but it was obviously first written as a scripted story to be acted out. It follows the same rules for romance stories, with comedy elements."

"In this movie many of the romcom elements come from the relationship between Stifler and Cadence, particularly with Stifler pretending to be a charming gentleman to woo her, in opposition to his rival who acts like Stifler's normal self. I'm sure we've all seen how to movie runs, so I won't go into that, but instead will update the beat system."

Once more he turned to the board, editing what had been written earlier.

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 _Beat 1 – The Hook – Stifler blackmails the guys to invite him to the wedding, Stifler has to attend functions but has no interest in lasting romance. He is a Bachelor._

 _Beat 2 – The Meeting – Stifler meets Cadence and feels an instant attraction._

 _Beat 3 – Conflict Point 1 –Stifler feels he needs to act like a nerd to win her over, causing internal conflict within himself as he hates acting like that._

 _Beat 4 – Raising the stakes – Stifler meets Cadence's family, meaning it's now even harder for him to act like his normal self. In essence, this scene makes his lies more weighty._

 _Beat 5 – Conflict Point 2 – Stifler and Cadence get on fantastically, but he slips up and gets drunk._

 _Beat 6 – The Black Moment – Stifler ruins the wedding, and everyone turns on him, leaving him alone and filled with self-hatred._

 _Beat 7 – Resolution – Using his boisterous attitude, Stifler convinces the flower woman to work through the night. He rescues the wedding by enforcing his Football team, earning back his friends – and Cadence._

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Jaune read the words, nodding his head along with it. It was strange to admit that he had never really noticed all those little factors – probably because the movie was more about the comedy. But even in a comedy movie, they were still all there.

"The romance between Stifler and Cadence would never have captured the hearts of readers, or viewers, without the conflict that came before it. Similarly, Stifler would not have grown as a character without that black moment at the end to force him to grow up. As you can also see, by getting through this he erases the earlier conflict points – as Cadence now knows what he is truly like, and accepts him anyway. Love conquers all is the typical angle here, and it's not a bad cliché to follow in romance tales."

"Going back to our earlier example of Miss Rose and Miss Schnee, can anyone think of some conflict points for them?" The Professor asked, pointedly ignoring Weiss shouting out her complaints again.

"They're both girls!" Someone shouted out.

"True, but that's a fact more than a conflict, what pressures would their relationship bring as a result of both being female?"

"Peer pressure?" Jaune guessed, smiling when he received a nod from the Professor.

"Social acceptance." Blake called out from further down. "Prejudice from others." Again Professor Al'aran nodded. Jaune supposed it made sense that Blake of all people would connect with that idea, considering her heritage and the way they were treated.

"Weiss' reputation, the family business."

"Ruby's family."

"Yang's aggressive tendencies."

"Hey!"

"Shyness, lack of confidence."

"Good points." The teacher agreed. "All of them, though if you are going a little AU, you can go further and create reasons for it not to work. Perhaps one of them is engaged, or in love with another person. Perhaps they are leaders of competing teams, perhaps Weiss' business is set to force Ruby's into administration. What if Ruby is being demoted, or passed up on a promotion for Weiss… maybe they work together, and business relationships are not allowed. The possibilities are endless."

"Ultimately however, there must come a black point later where all seems lost. And it's important before that black point to have the relationship _start_ to tentatively work. The black moment becomes much more impactful if it breaks hearts, and as a result, the resolution is that much more satisfying."

"Typically beat 4 is where the relationship becomes more intimate, more solid. You meet the parents, or Jack and Rose have sex. Romeo and Juliette declare their love. All of these acts `raise the stakes` emotionally. However if your story is taking a lighter direction, then beat four can be their first kiss. This raises the stakes too, for those on a lower rating."

"Whatever your writing style, following this structure will guarantee you a roller-coaster ride of emotions, without it going too far or getting too confusing. It's worth noting that in terms of length the beats are not created equally. Beat 1 should only last around 10% of the book at most. With beat 2 maybe being 10% as well. It is beats 3-5 that take up the majority of the piece, while the final two are quite short once more."

"Now then. I did promise to show an example of idea generation, although this will be covered in more detail in later classes. This is just one example of an idea, and how to make it fit the beat system. Who here has written romance fanfictions in the past?"

Jaune looked around nervously, before raising his hand. If this was going to help improve his writing then he would put up with the potential embarrassment. To his surprise, Ren also held his hand up.

"Perfect, we'll be imagining a Jaune x Ren story then." Professor Al'aran cheered, causing Jaune to slam his face into the desk, while Ren chuckled uncomfortably.

"I'll also show how easy idea generation can be, by using my lunch break as inspiration. I went to the local shop and bought a sausage roll. This will be the inspiration for the story."

"Porking for love?" Yang called out, causing the class to descend into laughter as the two only male members of JNPR suffered in silence.

"Quite so, Miss Xiao-Long. Now then, when I visit a supermarket I am often frustrated to find that my delectable sausage rolls are sold in packets of two or four. I am not a fat man, nor a greedy one. I don't want four, I want a single roll God damnit! Like any self-respecting grown man I put it down, and walk away to sulk like a child."

The class laughed.

"But Jaune is the character of a _fanfiction_. He is dynamic where others falter, he _does_ things. He doesn't react. He either buys them both and eats both, or gives one to a beggar or whatever. Or he demands answers from staff... main characters should be realistic, but they need to be dynamic too. They need to act, make decisions."

"First the hook. Jaune is a journalist writing a romance fiction column for a newspaper, ratings are down as his romance seems bland, his Editor is on his case. He is stressed and has no real life romance to draw inspiration from. He is lonely in the big city of Vale. Beat one completed."

"Now the meeting. Jaune goes for a sausage roll at his local deli, and lo and behold the rotten capitalist bastards sell them in packets of two. He is frustrated and is about to say this aloud, when someone beats him to it! There he sees Ren, though at this point they know each other not. Ren is a model for a men's health magazine and he too wants his fix, but can't eat two and keep his figure. Jaune, in a moment of genius offers to split the goods and share. Ren is surprised to be talked to by a stranger, but agrees easily enough. Beat two completed!"

"Conflict point one, Jaune and Ren continue to meet each lunch, by pure accident, sometimes having sausage rolls, sometimes sharing flapjacks. The two make an easy camaraderie, never talking about their work but just enjoying chatting. Ren likes having a friend who doesn't know he's famous. Jaune likes having someone who doesn't yell at his work. Despite this though, Jaune begins to develop feelings for Ren, and pens his thoughts down in his column. Ratings go up, the public love the saucy angle. His editor encourages him. Beat three completed. Again, this would go on for more chapters than the previous beats, with their attraction developing slowly, perhaps some small touches. Brushing up against one another."

"Raising the stakes, Jaune swallows his pride and suggests they go somewhere else for lunch. Ren asks if it's a date, and Jaune says it is. The two have an awkward dinner, but soon click over dessert, realising that nothing is really different, but that they both enjoy it. Ren suggests they do it again. Beat four completed."

"Conflict point 2, Ren and Jaune continue their relationship, while Jaune's saucy column becomes a must-read phenomenon. The two consummate their love in a passionate night after watching an opera. They become official. Beat five done."

At this point Jaune noticed Ren leaning away from him, causing him to give his friend a flat stare. _Really man, really!?_

"Disaster strikes in the black moment. With Ren being famous, a paparazzi notices them leaving a hotel together and it's all over the front pages. Ren's agents are furious that he got together with someone, which limits his marketability. Ren is horrified to find that Jaune wrote a column about them, believing that Jaune never loved him, and only hunted him for the story. Their relationship fractures instantly, with Ren having Jaune escorted by security from the modelling agency when he tries to explain himself. Beat six done."

"Finally the resolution, Jaune quits his job and spends a sleepless week penning a novel, slaving away. He writes down all his feelings for Ren, all his emotions in detail, before having a friend of Ren's leave it on his desk. That night there is a knock on his door, Ren is there, standing in the rain. Alone. "It's not finished." He says, holding up the unfinished book. "That's because I don't know what your answer is." Jaune whispers back. I'm sure you can see the ending. Fanfic complete, they get together. Jaune becomes an author, and Ren tells his Agents to stuff it. Both live happily-ever-after."

A few (female) cheers echoed out across the classroom, along with applause. To Jaune's horror he also felt a few people patting him on the back in congratulations. To his right, Ren had apparently somehow drawn stormflower and was keeping it in a defensive position.

 _Damn it Ren… I'm not going to jump you…_

"And that about wraps it up for this class on structure students. Remember to consider the beat code when penning your own romance tale, and remember to add in as much believable, but dramatic conflict as possible! The darker the situation seems, the more satisfying it becomes when it all works out. Or the more tearful when it becomes a tragic ending."

Professor Coeur Al'aran nodded at them all once, before turning and marching from the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he was gone everyone started chatting, even as he and Ren rose and made their way up to Pyrrha and the rest of team RWBY.

"H-hi Jaune, Ren." Ruby stuttered, face red as she kept looking between the two of them.

"Okay guys." Jaune sighed. "You do realise it was a make-believe situation, right?"

". . . I wouldn't complain . . . if it became real." Yang whispered, causing even Pyrrha to flush and look away.

"Damn it guys!"

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 **I wanted to use real-world examples to get the point across, but changed the details a little, obviously Atlesian Pie from American, and labelling the Titanic as a fictional cruise ship.**

 **Okay and wow, I have to resist the urge to write that story now. I went with Ren for comedy, but it could be anyone to be honest xD**

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C.F.'s Impression:

For a fanfic that'll never really be written, this still has potential. The idea of a collaborative project between accomplished fanfic writers was Coeur's idea, and casting it in terms of an in-universe was my suggestion. There wouldn't have been an actual plot- certainly no real shipping- and gods, we would have been self-insert OCs in authority positions. But if the above was any suggestion, it would practically have been a public service.

Maybe one day I'll finish that half-written piece I had on the merist of pre-planning. I'm certainly going to give Coeur a prompt about characters writing friendfiction about themselves. Too much potential about that.

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Author Note:

And for those sane people who don't obsessively check profile pages...

The next theme week is up for vote on a poll on C.F's profile. We're inviting you to help choose what the next theme week is. Pick your top two, and whatever comes out on top by the end of this week will be the focus of the next theme week.

What would you like as the next Theme Week for 'Writer Games? Vote in the poll, 'cause reviews don't count.

1 'Total Trash', aka Trash Week - We take the worst garbage tropes of the RWBY fandom... and try to make it work.

2 'Multiverse', aka Crossover Week - In which we have to bring a crossover character "into" the RWBY world, and make a story work.

3 'Not over yet', aka Continuation Week - Pick a pre-existing fill to either continue or redo.

4 'Different Beginnings,' aka backstory week - In which a character has some event happen in their backstory. The prompt can only be the event and the character.

5 'The World We (Don't) Know', aka AU Week - In which stories need to be completely AU.

6 'WTF', aka one-word week - In which prompts are random, maybe even just a single word with no connotations, and we need to make a plot from them.


	43. Would the Real Blake Please Stand Up?

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt – Jaune always imaged he would get fireballs for his semblance, or ice - or at least the power to fly. Instead he finds himself split into eight different Jaune's - with the other seven not quite willing to reunite with their "master" - and what's with those stupid names: Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Pride, Greed, Wrath and Sloth?

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Initial Thought:

FU, Coeur!

For everyone else- Coeur just gave the prompt of a concept I outlined a long time ago early on in our correspondence, with a single switch. It was something I actually tried to write- but wasn't satisfied with the execution and moved on to other things.

Since I think the original concept was a lot better- and got away from our tendency towards Jaune-centric plots- and since Coeur is shameless ripping me off for ideas to give to me, lol- here's the original.

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College Fool's Fill- Will the Real Blake Belladona please stand up?

Summary: Jaune's semblance, to radically improve other people's powers, becomes Blake's problem when her clones will not go away and, for some strange reason, refuse to die for her convenience. Teams RWBY and JNPR try to cope. You get a Blake, and you get a Blake, and you get a Blake…

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1: Setup- Jaune's semblance is discovered- radically boosting everyone else's semblances. Not so useful on its own, it empowers others to game-breakingly over-powered levels: Pyrrha dragging Yang through the air by her gauntlets, Ruby nearly running off the edge of Beacon she's so fast, and so on. Blake, the last to go, has her clones empowered- not only can they take a hit and fight back, but they can make their own clones. The Teams end their practice session, counting on the excess Blake clones to dissipate on their own as everyone goes in their own separate direction. Jaune goes to take a nap and recover, Ruby to get something to eat, etc. Blake wonders what she'll do, and decides to go with whatever she feels like.

2: Wrath- Yang. Blake goes to the fighting area to burn off some steam, joining Yang who is also still pumped up from the team-match from earlier. Blake is irritable- feeling itchy from the aura overflow from Jaune's semblance- and practically picks a fight with Yang when Yang teases her over her books. Yang suggests stress relief and blood-pumping hardcore action- which despite the teases means fighting. They fight, Blake let's loose her frustrations, with Blake pumping more clones. When it gets out of hand- when the clones don't sacrifice themselves to defend her, and one actually cuts Yangs hair- Blake turns on the clone and joins Yang in a carthatic game of 'murder the Blakes.' One clone escapes- and in the pursuit, Blake and Yang come across CRDL. Blake almost picks a fight with Cardin demanding where Blake went, but Cardin (confused) tells them where he last saw Blake- at the cafeteria. Yang and Blake go off to hunt down the errant clone.

3: Gluttony. Blake, feeling a bit hungry, decided to join Ruby in the chow hall. After using their semblance so much with Jaune's help, she want to eat a lot to regain her stamina. Like- remarkably a lot, to the point of stealing Ruby's food, which Ruby doesn't mind and simply shares. Ruby and Blake talk favorite foods, and weird foods, and bond, with Blake concluding that Ruby is just too sweet to be real when Ruby offers to share some of her cookies. Both are stuffing their faces with sweets when Yang and a Blake clone walks in. The Blake clone- who insists that she's the real Blake- picks a fight with Blake, and a food fight begins when Ruby comes to Blake's defense with the nearest thing at hand. The angry Blake- Wrath- is disgusted at the gluttenous Blake- Gluttony- and as both Blakes create clones for the imminent cat-fight, Ruby tries to call Weiss for help.

4: Greed- Weiss. Blake returned to the dorm room, wanting to take a shower and possibly a nap. Joining Weiss, who went back first, Blake wants to borrow her high-quality shower supplies. Weiss is happy to loan her stuff, since it's paid for by Schnee Corp, and when Blake asks if she could make a few purchases Weiss agrees. While Weiss is in the shower, Blake starts going on a shopping spree on Weiss's card, a subtle revenge against Schnee Dust Corporation. Buying shower supplies and some clothes- and porn, lots and lots of porn- at 'super high-speed delivery', Weiss comes out of the shower to a call from her father about her newfound reading habbits- right as a rocket-locker delivery system crashes through the window to deliver the goods. Among them is a maid dress- and Weiss, ticked off at Blake, vows that since she bought it, Blake is damn well going to wear it. While Blake is changing, Weiss gets a scroll call from Ruby, calling for help since Blake is being attacked at Blake- which is clearly impossible since Blake is here with Weiss. Weiss and Blake high-tail it out to try and sort it out- but not before, as she leaves, Blake pockets Weiss's new credit card.

5: Pride- Pyrrha. Blake, still on her A Game, goes to the other training room where Pyrrha is, wanting to test herself in a duel of skill with the Champion. It's impressive, but Pyrrha still wins, leading to Blake admitting her respect for Pyrrha and vice versa. Breaking the ice and chatting as friends, Blake doesn't quite get Pyrrha attraction for Jaune, as Blake says she'd never settle for anything less than the best. Pyrrha bemusedly asks who she'd consider second best to Pyrrha, and Blake nominates herself. There's a tension- a provocative challenge- in the air before Miss Goodwitch arrives- accompanied by a Blake clone. This Blake too calls Blake a fake, and has appealed to the faculty for help: Glenda demands Blake dismiss herself, and promises to 'assist' her if she does not comply. Blake is proud of who she is and denies being a clone, and with Pyrrha by her side she prepares to fight to prove it. As Pyrrha and Blake prepare to fight, daring to challenge the Teacher in the height of hubris, Glenda wonders where else the 'real' Blake would be if she wasn't here.

6: Sloth- Ren. Ren goes to the library and finds Blake lounging reading books. Blake is using shadow clones to read more and more things, with the intent of getting the memories when the clones dispel. Ren accepts it, but when one of the 'clones' tells Blake to dispel herself… arguing starts, which escalates to fighting as an ongoing battle of Blakes against Blakes tumbles into the library, including Weiss and Greed (with Weiss insisting that only her Blake is as annoying as the real one). As the battle moves on, one Blake is left behind: she was hiding behind Ren, who hasn't moved. They go back to reading in quiet companionship, sitting against each other, as the Food Fight and Library Wars continue.

7: Envy- Nora. Nora is off pouting that her she alone doesn't get a cool new semblance extension- as her power goes to 'awesome' from 'already awesome.' Feeling a bit depressed- even Ren got something new through Jaune enhancing his aura-manipulation- Nora stumbles across Blake in the gardens, who is tired and resting from the team battle of earlier. Blake, hearing her out, comforts her by telling her that it just means she's already strong. Nora and Blake have an envy match of things they envy about eachother (grace, intelligence, and poise vs cheer, enthusiasm, and honesty), before the chaotic battle in the rest of Beacon catches up with them. Team RWBY (and Pyrrha) are fighting each other and each other's Blakes, trying to kill/dispel as many of the 'fake' Blakes as they can. The Blakes with partners seem to have the upper hand over Fake Blakes- who lack energy to fight for long- and the Blake in the Garden is spotted as easy pickings. Nora ends up declaring that if everyone else gets a Blake, then she wants one to, and bridal-style cat-naps 'her' Blake from the melee in a dramatic rescue. As the battle goes on with ever more clones appearing, Blake wonders where the energy for so many Blake clones is coming from.

8: Lust- Jaune. Jaune is woken from his power nap in the JNPR by the Blake clone that escaped Wrath and Yang earlier. The clone realizes that she is a clone, but doesn't want to die, and seeks protection. She believes that Jaune's semblance is still the source of the clones, and suspects that if/when Jaune's semblance tires him out, the clones furthest away from him will be the first to dissipate. She wants to survive, and plans to do so by being the closest one to him- as close as it takes, whatever it takes. When Jaune puts two and two together- helped by her sultry tone and innuendo- Jaune freaks out about the prospect of not only cheating, since Blake is dating Sun, but taking advantage of someone desperate to stay alive. The Blake clone says it's not cheating if she's already with Sun- and makes a scroll call in which Sun has a Blake clone in each arm and a third on his lap as cheers Jaune on, since he has Jaune to thank for his one-girl harem. Flustered, Jaune tries to flee and find the real Blake, and runs into 'her' right outside his doorway coming out of the Team RWBY dorm. Confessing that he respects her too much to just take advantage of a clone, that he'd give his aura away for free rather than do anything resembling sexual coercion, Jaune begs for her help with the clone- and is kissed byher, even as the first one grabs him from behind. Realizing they are both clones with the same idea, they say that if he's willing to share himself so freely, then they'll just have to take him up on the offer. Both Blakes drag him away, wondering which will tire Jaune out first- the ongoing battle outside, or the two of them?

9: Aftermath: Will the Real Blake please stand up?

When the dust settles, Blake clones abound, changing everything. Thanks to Jaune's semblance there are dozens of 'permanent' Blakes at Beacon who are able to survive in the general proximity of his semblance. The teachers gain student-aids, Cardin/CRDL gains oversight, and Grimm are slaughtered in record numbers by the temporary armies of Blake clones whenever Jaune is 'tapped.' The White Fang doesn't stand a chance, and Blake is a one-woman army in every sense of the word.

The most enduring clones, to the extent that they bleed rather than dispel, are the Blakes that are teamed with Teams JNPR and RWBY (and so closest to Jaune's proximity), with Jaune's semblance-boost with his friends being a conduit that the clones get aura from 'their' partner and not just Jaune. All are tied to their own partner, associating with them in various ways appropriate for their link.

But the real Blake? The real Blake is holed up in her room when she's not hanging out with her friends, constantly dealing with the memories and experiences of all her clones transmit when they dream. She's got so much free time on her hands now that she's doing everything, just keeping her head together is a full-time job, and she is currently writing her own book serial with characters based on all her 'close friends.'

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Coeur's Impression:

Seven Deadly Sins prompt

Bah - a long time ago Cf came up with some story ideas that had super basic ideas, but weren't taken anywhere. I decided to give him a solid kick up the arse and get those out in the open. Hence this prompt.

So what did I think?

Well, as you can see it subverts the prompt pretty heavily, which is fine since I kind of expected it. I think the big for me straight away, is that the ending actually felt quite sad. If Blake is in her room, constantly sorting through the memories of hundreds of Blakes who are used as weapons against the Grimm? That seems to me like quite the lonely experience. Perhaps it's just the way it was summarised here. But either way, it felt like the comedy was better at the start and middle, but faltered towards the end.

I also felt the seven sins were... well, not the seven sins:

Lust was okay, if a little... well... is it lust when she has good reasoning for seducing Jaune? That feels more like self-preservation, maybe even something someone like Envy might do. Because she wants to live a normal life, etc... Honestly, I love the Jaune comedy - but part of me thinks lust should have gone after Sun in this case. That would actually be lust.

Wrath didn't feel quite angry enough, but it was possibly the most well done.

Envy - eh. It's okay, and I know that realistically speaking envy isn't as cruel an emotion as jealousy - but I'd have liked to see the line crossed a little bit more between the two. As Envy's thing with Nora... it's more like Nora is the envious one (which I get is part of the joke) - but Envy didn't come across as particularly envious.

Perhaps Nora should have come across Envy having some kind of sad moment, due to her envy.

Pride was okay, though I think that was more in the choice of Pyrrha than anything else. I would have liked to see again, more pride from Pride. She respects Pyrrha, and that's fine - but I would not have foreseen the personification of Pride to be a person who accepts defeat so well. I realise pride is very subjective though, since a person can be so proud they feel they have to fight, or so proud they feel they are above fighting - but still, felt tame.

Sloth - starts a fight? That doesn't feel very lazy. I'd have almost liked to see sloth almost accept her death due to laziness, and Ren (thinking it's the real Blake just exhausted from her semblance) has to try and protect her. Even when the "real" Blake hardly seems interested in saving her own life. Sloth in my mind doesn't equate to an "insatiable desire to read and learn everything" - that's pretty damn dedicated actually...

Greed - This also felt more like pride than greed at the end. She orders too much to get back at the SDC - a truly greedy person would have tried not to abuse the system, so they can KEEP abusing it. But instead Greed ironically lets pride stop her being greedy... which is backwards.

Gluttony - It's fine, though again the whole "sharing" aspect kinda clashes with gluttony - the actual sin literally relates to not sharing. But I get that CF wanted each Blake to bond with someone, showing the 7 sins in their teammates as much as anyone else.

In fact part of me thinks this worked better if you took out the whole seven deadly sins aspect, as they didn't didn't resonate properly with me. Of course it could be changed to work better with the seven deadly sins, but as it stands - you have the seven deadly sins in SOME of the cast. I.e. Pyrrha, Nora, Yang - but Ruby doesn't come across as gluttonous, nor does Ren as slothful. Yes he seems lazy, but in THIS story - Nora shows envy, good fit. Pyrrha shows pride - good fit. Ren in CANON shows sloth - but not in this story. Same with Weiss in a way.

So if the seven were supposed to relate directly not to the Blakes, but to everyone else - give some specific examples of it happening in that section, like with Nora feeling envious over not getting a great semblance boost. Or Pyrrha being too proud with Blake.

Or if you wanted the seven Blake's to show more deadly sins variety, then up the ante a little. It's a comedy fic, so feel free to exaggerate. Pride was good in daring to fight Glynda, but Lust wasn't lustful. She was "willing to use herself" to stay alive - but that isn't lust, it's desperation

I would also have liked to see Blake (the original's) reactions to all of this, surely she is not okay with her clones molesting Jaune (and goodness knows who else!) or causing fights with the teachers, etc...

It felt a bit of a weird absence for a section of her to be missing until the end. I could imagine a further comedy section where Blake tries to organise a purge of her clones or something, o at least capture the wilder ones. Leading to comedy with her trying to convince Sun to give the Blake ones up.

"I've got them held prisoner."

"That isn't a submission hold Sun!"

"Eh, it works."

Or similar.

Overall a solid idea, just some kinks to be ironed out.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Hark- once upon a time I _was_ able to outline a story in less than 2000 words. A short story, but a story, and one that wasn't even Jaune-centric. He was just the catalyst/plot device excuse to get it started.

So if you're just starting to pay attention to my style, I like themes and organization. The seven deadly sins is a nice, convenient theme for RWBY, and Jaune. It's broadly applicable, and it's numerically convenient. Taken any cast member of the RWBY crew, and the seven sins can be the other seven students. It's nice, conveniently easy to fit everyone into, and it's a concept everyone can recognize and get behind. It also conveniently fits in with Jaune's seven sisters. Hint hint, stomp stomp, expect to see that again in the future.

If I had to point out a missed opportunity/weakness... aside from what Coeur points out...I don't know if it would have been better, per see, but I definitely feel I missed the chance to make this an outright Blake harem story.

As in, plenty of Yuri and every Blake shipping everyone, because dem clones. Each of the Seven Sins Blake clones could have had the shipping or befitting their sin: angry-sex with Yang, prideful 'don't settle for second best' with Pyrrha, 'Ruby is so sweet I could eat her up' Gluttony, and so on. That would have been the immature thing- just as bad (or good) as your typical Jaune harem nonsense. I saw the clones as tinted rather than literal embodiments of the seven sins, but a harem route could have gone more aggressively possessive. In the typical harem, the love interests are possessive for the primary character. Here, it could be Blake clones being possessive about 'their' partner, both romantically and in the face of any other clone trying to take them.

I didn't do it, since I'm not really into that harem nonsense for the most part, and because it wouldn't have worked well for every clone (and would have undermined the unique theme of the lust clone). But you can see elements of it here or there.

Ultimately, though, the real weakness is the real Blake. Not sure how that could fix. The idea was 'she gets the experience of being with everyone, and has as much time as she wants.' But they way it comes across is sad, and it doesn't address the implications of what the free-willed clones are doing. Especially the ethical issues around lust.

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Author Note:

For those wondering - yes, the voted theme week comes after the villain one. We are still doing that, we just need to plan ahead as sometimes it takes me (specifically me) a while to get to prompts due to work. CF is usually a lot faster.


	44. Villain: To Catch a Thief

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Dylan's Prompt: Torchwick expected the betrayal, he even expected the arrest, but he definitely didn't expect the teaching position.

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Initial Thoughts: I had to take this one. Coeur's got his own professor story down. This is also one I could really get behind.

Title: To Catch a Thief

Summary: Torchwick expected the betrayal, he even expected the arrest, but he definitely didn't expect the teaching position.

Story begins in episode 1, the night of the robbery, with Roman running down the street- bloody, hurt, and fleeing the goons. Quick flashback of their betrayal at the orders of Junior, and how Roman's been on the run. Cursing/threatening vengeance by Neo, Roman desperately bursts into the dust store- not to rob it, but in hopes that the goons won't follow for fear of police. They do, fight breaks out, and Ruby gets involved and saves the obviously hurt and desperate Roman.

Ruby is confused about Roman's connection to goons. Roman spins a lie about being an undercover agent. Ruby deals with the mooks, Roman tries to run, but when he makes it to the rooftop there's no bullhead to rescue him- proof that Cinder was in on Junior's betrayal. Roman is taken by surprise by Glynda, who easily captures him.

Roman is in jail cell with Ozpin and Glynda. Roman and Ozpin play games- Ozpin knows Roman was betrayed, but Roman doesn't want to be a rat lest that earn Cinder's real wrath. Even so, Roman wants revenge, and Ozpin holds the keys. Ozpin extends an offer- the job offer- to Roman: work for Ozpin, and Ozpin will offer protection and allow Roman to aim for revenge. The catch? Roman has to do it from Beacon- where he can be watched by the teachers, and where Ozpin expects the conspiracy to make a move on.

Roman's cover is as a teacher, or teacher assistant, but his real job is to ferret out spies and criminals sneaking into Beacon. In the meantime his job is to help the students think in less conventional ways: Roman isn't trusted to be their psychological counselor or anything (a shoutout to Professor Arc), but dirty tricks and unconventional thinking good life skills. Roman even delights at the idea of challenging and corrupting the innocent young children.

Roman is agreeable, intending to bust out with Neo at the first opportunity- but Ozpin reveals that there's a bomb inside Roman that will go off if Ozpin wills it. It's an cruel threat, but Ozpin claims a teacher needs to be good rather than nice. For that, Roman could be suitable.

Roman is at Beacon in his new job in time for initiation. His disguise amounts to… actually, it's just hand-waved with a name change. The teachers all know who he is, and don't like him. The students don't know who he is, and do like him- especially as he spins a story. Roman is passive-aggressive trolling towards the teachers, and encourages the kids to like him even as he thinks rude things about them. He's also intending to start the Roman Torchwick Fanclub, which is dedicated to the mysterious gentleman thief who has disappeared from the news.

Roman has initial encounters with Teams JNPR and RWBY. Comedy is had by him catching on to and having cynical/acerbic thoughts in his head as he watches them. Ruby is the only one to recognizes him, but not as the criminal. She thinks he's a secret agent and introduces him as such to Jaune- and since that's sort of his job, Roman encourages it by 'letting them in' on his secret mission.

From the start, Roman views the childrens as tools, and makes movements to coopt them as his tools. Roman plays nice with Ozpin by bringing the secrets of the children forth- that Blake is a faunus, that Jaune's transcripts are faked- but nothing he finds shocks or surprises Ozpin. It's all a test of Roman's ability- if he hadn't found them, Ozpin would be worried. Ozpin directs Roman to keep an eye on them- and Roman does, cultivated the teams into his power base. Nominally to help in his anti-Cinder investigation, but actually to gain his freedom.

Roman plays the amiable mentor figure with less amiable private thoughts, starting with the team leaders. Ruby is coopated into the secret-cool secret spy cop for justice thing, which Roman uses as cover for nefarious things he tricks Ruby into doing, such as delivering messages that will get to Neo. Yang gets involved because Ruby is involved, which was Just as Planned.

For Jaune, Roman plays the (woefully needed) male mentor figure. Despite having nothing for disdain for Jaune, Roman takes the view of 'if life gives you lemons… blackmail them into making lemonade.' Though he holds off on aggressive blackmail for now. Instead, Roman earns trust and favor by giving tips, women advice, and most of all making clear to Jaune that he knows Jaune's a fake, but willing to help him anyway. Starting with aura before the initiation. Jaune's dependent on Roman's advice/mentorship, and subtle cheating, and Roman starts molding Jaune into a pawn loyal to him. Roman doesn't give a shit about Jaune's romance, but takes to mentoring Jaune on how to pick up women with Weiss in mind- while encouraging Jaune to 'practice' on Pyrrha, ensuring Pyrrha's loyalty to Jaune and complicity in Roman's gambits.

For the most part, it's easy and fun for Roman. Nora plays along well with the secret cop thing. Ren's suspicious, but defers to authority and the honesty that Ozpin knows Roman's game. Blake gets trolled by Roman coaxing Blake into casual anti-faunus racism to keep her human cover secret. Weiss just gets trolled in general- as Ice Queen, Flat Chest, and for being a Schnee elitist- even as she defers/trusts him as a legitimate authority figure. (Which is ultimately what leads her to question automatic deference to authority figures, so life lesson learned thanks to Roman.)

After setting the dynamics, post-initiation broadly goes between the Team storylines and Roman's investigation/search for Cinder's conspiracy. Neo makes contact with Roman, but can't break him out now, and so is an infrequent visitor as she covers up Roman's survival/location to Cinder.

In the Cardin arc, Roman's mentorship of Jaune plays dividends. Jaune never gets blackmailed by Cardin because Roman's there. Roman gives Jaune a direction for growth/masculinity towards Roman's direction, escaping the machismo and helping Jaune fight dirty against Cardin. In doing so, Roman gets Jaune's loyalty.

In the Blake arc, Roman's investigation into Cinder/Junior starts bearing fruit as he learns that the White Fang has been hired to replace him. Roman gets involved/finds the team fight, and plays Blake's running-away as her being on a mission for him- a lie that smooths over her re-admission into Beacon, and gets her and her teams gratitude.

Most of all, the Blake/docks arc ends with teams RWBY and JNPR under Roman's thumb as part of his 'investigation': they get extra credit in school and teacher cover to go into Vale and do things for Roman. They think they are (and they actually are) helping the search for Cinder and White Fang, while actually serving as Roman's pawns.

Time skip to season two. The changes in the teams start to pronounce themselves. First and foremost is Jaune, who's able to play dirty in the food fight to help JNPR do even better. Meanwhile, RWBY trusts Roman as a legitimate authority. However, Cinder's plan accelerates, and Roman's existence is soon found out when Mercury and Emerald arrive on campus. Roman doesn't know them, so they're able to operate freely.

During this time, Roman's views for the kids start to change. Where before he was dismissive and oppressive, now he takes pride in their mischief and activities. They're more like him, but he's more like them as well- not good, but interested and invested in them. Jaune's like a disciple, and Roman's invested in his romantic success enough to coach him. Ruby's taken a tricky and sneaky tint to her innocence- playing innocence for white lies and little pranks. The teachers don't like the influence he has, but Roman pulls rank and teacher card for the kids, and they love him for it.

Difficulties/hard times occur around the ball. Weiss doesn't respond well to Jaune's interest because Jaune's taking too much after Roman's unscrupulous sides. Roman faces intense suspicion and antagonism from Ironwood, who doesn't trust him. Roman's able to interfere with Cinder's attempt at the com-tower, but doing so exposes both of them to eachother and sets Roman up for an assassination attempt. And then there's Neo- who's a wavering ally for Roman, getting tired of his games in Beacon and wondering if he's serious or not about their big plans to get rich and powerful.

As Cinder's attempts to kill Roman continue and become apparent, Roman is able to convince Ozpin to loosen his leash leash and lets him leave Beacon proper. Roman starts with it to lead against the White Fang and Cinder- and in doing so, realizes he's playing into Ozpin's hands and benefit. As the Teams do their White Fang investigation, with Roman's help, Roman realizes that he's been coopated, and stopped even trying to fight against Ozpin.

Roman's dissatisfied, and makes to strike back at Ozpin. Using the teams as pawns, he has them take actions that will enable him to neutralize the bomb within him- telling them the half-truth that it's being done to control him, but lying when he claims Cinder is doing it to him. The children believe him, and disarm the bomb- but in doing so, enable Cinder to hack the com tower and initiate her plan's phase with her replacement for Roman- a crueler, meaner criminal who Roman dismisses as low-class.

Low-class or not, this rival is in charge of the Breach, and Roman's investigation leads the children on its heels. The children are in danger, and Roman fight to save them- even fighting against Neo when she sides with the low-class but ambitious criminal over him, who's gone soft. Neo is defeated, and the criminal rival captured- but in doing so, he threatens to spill the beans about Roman's real past and character. Roman could kill him to keep him quiet- or push the students to- but ultimately decides not to taint the kids with murder, even as he rationalizes that interrogation is for the best. When the crime boss spills the truth, Roman waits with nervousness for the children's reactions… which are underwhelming, since they've all pegged (and accepted) him as a criminal by now anyways.

Despite his defeat, Cinder's machinations start the Breach. The teams save the beaten Neo from Grimm, and Roman leads the effort to stop the Breach. Roman, driven by pressure, arranges a heroic sacrifice of himself rather than sacrifice his students to stop the train. The train stops, and children make it to the surface, and Roman is left behind to heroically die to the Grimm, having saved Vale.

Or so the children report to Ozpin, just as they report Neo's unfortunate escape. In fact, though, Roman is alive- and Jaune and Ruby meet with him in secret. With Neo there as well, Roman does a war council with his team leaders about their plans: they'll stop Cinder, but not for Ozpin. They'll do it on their own terms, sneakily. They'll need resources to do so- and Roman has an idea that entails JNPR and RWBY fixing matches in the Vytal Festival- but Roman's committed to bringing in Cinder. The story ends with Jaune and Ruby pandering to him, and Roman having to deny to Neo that he's gotten soft even as he expresses pride and concern for the teams.

End.

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Coeur's Impression:

Honestly, this is the exact story I wanted for Simulacrum - so I'm glad someone else dropped a similar prompt once more. In fact, I think even the prompt was similar "The odds were against him, Cinder couldn't be trusted - and Roman wanted out."

So I'm glad to see this was more along the lines of what I wanted originally. A story about a cynical man trying to use others for his own benefit, but slowly being won over by them. The ending in particular was perfect - both what i wanted, and what i would have myself written. Except that mine would have had a tearful rendition of Roman's sacrifice.

And the next chapter would have literally been Roman on a lounger at the beach.

But either way, it's definitely good, and more so because it's believable that they might lie to protect him. RWBY has literally 0 respect for authority in the show, and it's unlikely that would change with the introduction of Roman as a mentoring figure lol.

Very pleased with this one, and so... SO GLAD to see a Roman prompt that didn't end in misery and ignominious defeat. Roman is one of my favourite characters.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

It's good that Coeur liked this, because I'm unsatisfied. It's a good prompt- a great prompt actually, and I want to commend Dylan for having an interesting premise while leaving it open-ended enough to let me play with. The flaws are mine.

And to me, I see plenty- first and foremost being that I had very few specifics or actual scenes in mind. That helped keep this short, but if someone held a gun to my head and told me to write this story... I don't think I could. That's how empty it is to me. How is Ruby mischievious? What's the Jaune romance sub-arc supposed to resolve as- does Jaune re-affirm his character and morality, does Arkos reign, does Roman help him otherwise? How do the students change and reflect Roman? How does Roman himself change, in practice?

And where's the drama? There's no crisis between Roman and the students. Or with Neo. Or Ozpin. Or... well, anyone. There's a confrontation with Cinder, and a vague assassination attempt (again- no context or specifics), and it's all handwaved as much as I did Roman's 'secret identity.' The only idea here that I felt was clever was Roman starting a fanclub to Roman- the idea of the narcist hiding his identity just seemed wrong to me. But everything else- even Roman surviving and getting away scott-free? No creativity whatsoever.

I gave what I know Coeur wanted from simulcrum, and it's better than simulcrap, but personally I don't think what I gave was good. A good deal of that was because I tried to handrail canon, and lacked any good ideas of my own.


	45. Villain: Light Fingers

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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The Richmaster's Prompt – "Emerald was a street kid, she stole to survive and while she didn't exactly like what she did, she found no shame in doing what she had to do to survive. One day, however, she reaches into the wrong person's pocket."

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Title: Light Fingers  
Summary: She was an orphan, a thief, a pickpocket. But one day Emerald was caught with her fingers in the wrong person's pocket – and her life was changed forever.

Prologue Chapter:

Emerald as a young child is following someone on the streets, she comments briefly about them. The figure moves with a dangerous grace – but looks well-off. They caught her attention when she was looking for the kind of mark she wanted, the wealthy-looking kind. And while this one didn't look like a suit – one of those rich business people, they were definitely well-off. She could tell by the clothing, not to mention the way they moved…

She sneaks closer through the crowd, curiously following the figure through the streets. A single grab, take what she can and go – there's no need to risk anything.

She reaches in, her small fingers sliding into the pocket, only to be twirled around as a hand latches around her wrist, dragging her quickly into an alley.

"You've got light fingers, but that doesn't belong to you," the figure says – but Emerald barely sees it, trying to break free. "Good eyes too, to pick me out in the crowd, but a poor choice of targets."

"Let me go!" She cries as she struggles, only to be stopped as the figure laughs, a deep and rich sound that makes her pause.

"You're nothing but a child, but I can see something… valuable in you. If you come with me, I can promise you'll become more than you ever could here."

And despite the fear, the trepidation – after a brief bit of thinking, the hungry girl agrees.

"Excellent," white teeth flash as the one holding her releases her wrist. "We've work to do you and I. What's your name?"

"I don't have one."

"Hmm… in that case I'll call you Emerald, because you're quite the rare gem to find in the streets of Vale."

Back then I didn't realise the consequences of the decision I'd just made, but even so I shivered at those words, the way they were said. Little did I realise how much things were about to change, just because I got caught with my fingers in the wrong pockets.

Arc 1 –

Timeskip to Emerald and Mercury killing Tukson at the book shop. Mercury accuses her of spacing out, and she just says she's reminiscing on how this all started, how they ended up in this situation. How Cinder recruited them and everything. Merc laughs and cracks some lines about her getting him as a partner being the best day of her life.

"You wish."

There is a lot of snark between them, but the kill goes down – as much as she sighs and doesn't feel the same vicious glee as Mercury. She doesn't enjoy killing, but is willing to do what she must to complete their grand plan. She often uses quotes like "Every game needs players, and I'm just playing my part," to annoy Mercury with her mysterious s***.

The story progresses as normal at this point – with the Roman meeting, and some scenes we never see in the show, such as Emerald and Mercury being punished for killing Tukson against orders.

Arc 2 –

Emerald and Mercury begin their infiltration into Beacon at this point, and Emerald is tasked to try and find info on team RWBY – who keep interfering with their plans. She befriends Ruby ala canon – but literally cannot stand her for how idealistic she is.

Mercury finds the hatred hilarious, especially when Emerald has to keep "playing nice" with fake smiles that hurt her face, etc… She gets back at him by making up all sorts of rumours about him, much to his annoyance when every girl in Beacon starts hearing them.

It even turns into a mini-snark war where they are both trying to trip one another up, though never enough to cause problems. They both know the plan – "We're but players Merc." "Oh God, not this s*** again…"

Arc 2 ends when Cinder joins Beacon – and really the only conflict in this small arc (still an introductory arc really) is the two of them trying to work their way into Beacon without being caught out.

Arc 3 –

Cinder arrives at Beacon and takes command of their room, detailing the next stage of their plan – which up til that point neither knew. Cinder doesn't trust easily, and honestly Emerald understands and accepts it. It makes sense not to trust.

Roman causes more problems by getting stopped by RWBY and interefered with during the robot scene, etc… leading to Emerald commenting on how useless he is, they should just kill him. Merc agrees, though Cinder punishes them both for daring to question her.

The next stage of their plan is to sabotage the CCT tower – which they will do under the cover of the dance. Emerald and Mercury's role is just to be seen and noticed, and make excuses for Cinder – so she can arrive late without suspicion.

Emerald does this by actually dancing with Ozpin of all people, though it's more a case of him commenting on her not enjoying the mood – and her sarcasm ending up suggesting they dance. Except he agrees, to her embarrassment. It certainly causes the scene that Cinder wanted though, even if Merc is an a** and laughs about it.

Cinder arrives and dances with Mercury, though she looks flustered. The three find a quiet corner to talk, and Cinder says someone must have compromised their plan – as there were Atlas guards there, ala canon. Emerald comments that the soldiers are all over campus, so she's not sure its sabotage – but Cinder points out that one week ago there were zero guards, and never had been in Beacon. Sure the General Ironwood is there – but why would he feel the need to just place guards all over a school?

Mercury and Em accept that it can't be a coincidence, with both immediately blaming Roman as the rat – or if not the rat, just being so incompetent that he sparked alarms. "He's obviously out for his own skin Cinder, and that's not even a bad thing for a thief – but he isn't committed like us."

Cinder accepts their reasoning, but just says they will keep a closer eye on him. Regardless, the virus was uploaded and the robots will belong to them when the time comes.

Arc 4 –

The breach occurs, though Emerald and Mercury are at Beacon still – there is some prep where they meet Torchwick and the WF before it happens. With Emerald quietly suggesting to Merc that they watch the master thief – see if he tries anything.

He doesn't, though Cinder rebukes them both for going behind her back – she doesn't punish them though, saying some initiative can be good, and to keep an eye on him and their new "friends" – the White Fang. Em and Merc agree.

The Breach goes off, and yet again is foiled by Team RWBY – it seems Ozpin had some kind of tip-off about Mt Glenn, otherwise why arrange a mission there and send a first year team. Em points out that a first year team even getting the mission sounds odd – and Cinder agrees, citing that RWBY is Ozpin's new pieces.

"His best players eh?" Emerald comments, getting another groan from Merc. Emerald offers to kill them, making Mercury perk up, but Cinder shoot the idea down. It would cause a scene, and better the enemy they know – than whatever Ozpin quietly replaces them with.

They are to wait for the Vytal Festival.

Arc 5 –

The Vytal Festival comes as per canon – Emerald and Merc scope the competition. Emerald is forced to a girl's night in, to her horror – where everyone talks about boys – to her horror.

Ruby and Yang then chat about their uncle Qrow, who will be coming to Beacon that year.  
Emerald sighs and ignores it all, wishing she could be anywhere else.

When the Festival comes, their team (with Neo) fight through the early rounds, and it's Emerald and Mercury who go into the two's (Cinder wishes to keep her skills hidden). There they square off against Yang and Weiss, and in a long-a** protracted fight manage to actually win. Emerald does that by producing some kind of spice that Yang is allergic to, causing her to sneeze uncontrollably and lose vision.

Mercury asks her how she knew, and Em just laughs saying she pays attention and notices things, like what the blonde won't ever touch or eat. Merc laughs back and says his eyes are usually a little lower, ducking a punch from Emerald.

Things take a bad turn though when Roman's plan to escape the prison is somehow thwarted. Worse, Neo – who was going to break him out is captured and presumed dead. "She can teleport boss… if she were still alive…"

Cinder is furious, but says the plan will go ahead regardless. They still have the droids that they will turn to their side when she needs them. And the White Fang too. Neither Em nor Merc really mourn the loss of Roman.

Arc 6 –

The finals come about, and Emerald is chosen to represent their team, as it doesn't matter if they win or lose. Merc and her actually rock, paper, scissors to NOT fight, with Emerald losing.  
"How do you keep winning, you pick rock every time!?"

"If you know that, why do you keep picking scissors?"

"Because I keep thinking it's a trap! Damn it…"

She fights against Pyrrha, and is routinely smashed, losing the fight – though she does pull a few tricks that make it closer than it has any right to be. Pyrrha will go onto the finals, but that's fine because that's when they plan to strike.

Cinder calls the two of them and Adam for their final planning, with a few changes due to the loss of Neo and Roman. She explains that without Neo and her disguise abilities, they will instead need to capture Ironwood and Ozpin before the invasion happens. Cut off the head of the snake as it were.

Cinder calls on Adam to go with them, as their heavy-hitter. This task can't be left to chance, as getting codes off Ironwood would let them activate defence mechanisms in the stadium, keeping reinforcements away from stopping their invasion.

The WF will invade Vale proper, while they – with the aid of the droids, take the stadium. Since a large proportion of the population – and many hunters – are at the stadium, there's less risk for the WF on the ground. Adam agrees.

The plan is set.

"Time for the final moves," Emerald smirks at Mercury.

Arc 7 –

The final fight happens, and Cinder, Em, Merc and Adam infiltrate the main stand for VIP's. it's most guarded by the robots, which Cinder is able to deactivate thanks to the virus she placed in the CCT. They go through unopposed, until they find a conference room with Ironwood, Ozpin – and some Councillors present.

Adam draws his sword, even as Cinder presents herself. Ironwood makes to defend himself, to call on his guards – only for Cinder to explain the virus, and also the invasion of Vale – which they will not live to see. There's a moment where Ozpin tries to convince them to surrender, but it fails.

Cinder tells Adam to kill the Headmaster, and he does – only for the Headmaster to shimmer and vanish. Merucry panics, smelling a trap as metal bars slam shut across the doors, trapping them inside. Gas begins to pour into the room, as they try to cover their mouths.

"We've been set up," Mercury shouts as he looks around, before spying Emerald outside the door. "Try to get it open!" He shouts.

"It won't budge," Emerald sighs, even as a hand falls atop her head. She glances up to see an older man, with black hair and a light amount of stubble.

"Emerald!?" Mercury questions.

"Sorry Merc, we're but pieces in the bigger game."

"You b***!" He shouts as he collapses from the smoke.

There's a flash back in the same chapter it happens, going back to when she picked that pocket.

"I'll call you Emerald, because you're quite the rare gem to find in the streets of Vale," the figure says with a smile.

"I'm no gem!" She argues as she looks away. "And I'm not a tool either if that's what you're tryin to say!"

"I guess you aren't. But in the end, little Emerald, we're all just pieces in the bigger game."

"What's your name?" She asks, getting a grin in return as a hand settles atop her head.

"The name's Qrow. Now come on, let's get some food in your belly."

And then repeat the same ending line of the first chapter: Back then I didn't realise the decision I'd just made, but even so I shivered at those words, the way they were said. Little did I realise how much things were about to change, just because I got caught with my fingers in the wrong pockets.

The scene pans back to the terrorists, who are now unconscious in the room – as Ironwood says he has activated the kill switch he placed on the droids as Qrow suggested. The stadium is safe, and his men around Vale have managed to prevent the WF invasion – capturing many of them in the process.

Emerald snorts, "Whoopdy-do, now if you'll excuse me – I have like 10,000 lien riding on that bitch that kicked my ass, and I intend to collect it."

"Would it kill you to be less of an as to my nieces by the way," Qrow calls – "and could you not mention I told you about Yang's allergy."

"I dunno, could you tell them to be less whiny pussies?"

Qrow shakes his head as the girl wanders out, turning to Ozpin and Ironwood and shrugging. "I wasn't the best father-figure" he admits.

"Hey, where's my wallet?" A guard cries.

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C.F.'s Impression:

Welcome to the Dark Side, Coeur. Welcome to the world of mega-fills. Planning is fifteen minutes, but the writing eats your soul...

So I like this fill, and I think it was a justified subversion of Richmaster's actual intent in the review the prompt was offered. Richmaster wanted the origin story of canon- Coeur subverted that with this charming story of betrayal and deception and loyalty.

Personal loyalty is a good theme and idea, and an excellent way to characterize amoral or outright villainous characters. Greed or simple selfishness only go so far- it's the personal touch, and the personal connection, that give the characters something less one-dimensional. The fact that Emerald expresses opinions towards Cinder (admiration) and Ruby (disdain/dislike) makes her more of a personality than, say, Mercury. And because she has those feelings on top of her general amorality, it's believable that those ties could direct her amorality- which is what makes the ultimate betrayal better. It's the personal touch that makes villains compelling, rather than simply baddies. People playing Fallout 4- you know what I'm talking about. Can you imagine siding with you-know-what if it weren't for you-know-who?

Otherwise... not much critique to say here. The meta works against the suspense here: it's pretty obvious Emerald is to blame, and not just from the prompt. The title and Coeur's chosen summary are flags as well- it's about Emerald's childhood, yet Emerald's childhood isn't touched on, and canon starts changing as a result? Too obvious. It's a shame that suspense-driven stories like this would never really work if written. While some of our Writer Games stories could be enjoyable even if written out, ones that depend on a plot twist like this?

Overall, a nice fill, and a good addition to villain week.

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Coeur's Reflection:

This is one of those prompts which is good - yes, but spoilerish by its very nature lol. You can kinda see how it's going to end if you know the prompt in advance, and it was never really in doubt that she was the mole. In a proper story though you wouldn't have the forewarning, and Emerald would have played her part - with genuine outrage about the traitor. Her and Mercury trying to hunt said traitor down - constant suggestions that they can't trust Torchwick.

Basically a full story would have disguised it under bad stuff happening to Emerald, but the overall plot would be this and I liked it. It's a twist of course, unless Emerald does turn out to be a double agent at the end - who knows. But I loved the idea of her snark and banter hiding something darker.

Some might wonder why it wasn't Ozpin to be her mentor, he certainly suggested it with that dance didn't he? But the thing is, as much as we can paint Ozpin as manipulative - all his actions are typically hunter-related. he likes his pawns IN beacon, where he can control them to a degree (if you think he is the manipulative sort that is). Qrow strikes me as someone much more used to skullduggery - to being willing to literally risk a small child in a criminal organisation. To literally train someone to betray, and yet still keep them around afterwards.

He's dangerous like that.

Also the chess piece comments were meant to hint it as Ozpin, yet if you recall when Cinder takes down the CCT - someone else says they have a new Queen or something. So I went on to assume that was Qrow.

I liked it anyway, this summary is a bit rushed as I'm busy - but I think it works well enough.

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Author's Note:

Have you voted for the next Theme Week? If not, go to C.F.'s profile and vote now- voting will end this Friday. It's neck and neck for the top three choices- your vote (if you haven't already) could make the difference!

1 'Not over yet', aka Continuation Week - Pick a pre-existing fill to either continue or redo.

32 Votes 23%

2 'Multiverse', aka Crossover Week - In which we have to bring a crossover character "into" the RWBY world, and make a story work.

30 Votes 21%

3 'Total Trash', aka Trash Week - We take the worst garbage tropes of the fandom... and try to make it work.

29 Votes 21%


	46. Villain: Malachites

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt: People though they were just side-class characters, people to be ignored and tossed aside. But the Malachite sisters? They were tired of that.

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Title: Malachites

Summary: People though they were just side-class characters, people to be ignored and tossed aside. But the Malachite sisters? They were tired of that.

(Written as planning notes. This actually came in pretty close to 15 mins total.)

After the Yellow trailer fight, Melanie and Miltia Malachites want revenge on Yang, convinced on the need to become stronger. Malachites forge transcripts to get into Beacon to become stronger, with plan of becoming renegade Huntresses like Neo or Cinder. Forged transcripts are from the same source as Jaune, so they know Jaune is faking and think Jaune knows in reverse. Jaune doesn't, but it's a reason to step softly at first.

Beacon initiation start. When Jaune makes friends with Ruby, they don't care. They realize that Ruby is Yang's sister, and she's a potential target. False friendship with Ruby, and with Jaune by proxy. The twins adopt their roles: Melanie (white dress girl) plays the nice twin, while Miltia plays naughty.

Yang recognizes Malachites, but is non-hositle: thinks the fight was all good fun, and assumes they're good people. Jaune flirts with (flip coin for LI) Melanie, who's the love interest. Both malachites are dismissive of Jaune.

Initiation. Malachites replace Nora and Ren. Melanie is Jaune's partner, saves him in landing strategy, the Miltia catches Pyrrha as both try to meet with intended partners. Malachites fill Ren and Nora role- a bit meaner to Jaune, but Jaune takes a shield blow for one, earning gratitude.

Beacon arc. The Malachites are adjusting to teamwork that's not their own and to pretending heroic virtue. False friends with Ruby and Yang for revenge against Yang. See Pyrrha as an opportunity for power. Put up with Jaune, though sort of possessive as 'their' toy.

First virtuous act is standing up for Velvet. Twins find Cardin annoying. Play with him, tease him along to distract him, before roping Jaune in as the manlier man to dismiss Cardin. Velvet gets free, Malachites are surprised with gratitude and claims of virtue.

Cardin act. Cardin is attracted to one of the twins. They find him boorish and annoying. The joke about Jaune being their love interest makes Jaune the target. Malachites stand up for Jaune because it's amusing while keeping their roles- Miltia is the devel, while Melanie is the angel. Jaune starts falling for his partner. Miltia beat up Jaune to overcome his machismo, before Melanie builds him up with training. Yang assigns nobler virtues to them for their role in helping build Jaune up.

Cardin resolution- Jaune actually impresses Malachites by standing up to Cardin when he presses too hard with his interest. No blackmail arc- the twins keep it under cover- just Jaune being chivalrous and standing up for a lady. Melanie is unsure of how to feel about it.

Blake arc. The virtues being assigned to the Malachites keep piling up. The twins amorality/indifference for faunus and past criminals, self-serving as it is, is taken for acceptance by Blake. Blake's accidentally revealed secret is safe with them- they intend blackmail, but never get chance before the RWBY schism. When Blake goes missing, the twins call in favors with Junior to help look for her. Ends up causing problems between Junior and the White Fang. JNPR is dragged into dock fight- Junior is on the wrong side of the White Fang and Roman- and the twins are credited in heroic light even as they realize they can't go back to the underworld. Even so, RWBY is grateful for their help, and the twins find themselves even more trusted.

Around this time, Jaune starts chivalrously courting Melanie. It's so fancy-nice and polite that Melanie isn't sure what to make of it, but fake-flirting by Miltia doesn't distract Jaune while Melanie still plays the role of the super-nice girl.

Season 2. Food fight- the twins are key to JNPR winning the food fight. The twins have started to accept their place and Beacon, and believing the charade. Personalities start to shift- Melanie goes along being the courted damsel, while Miltia is friendly with Yang. Both twins are forgetting what their original motives were.

Crisis/drama comes in from Cinder and crew. Cinder knows the fake transcripts, and their motives of ambition. Offers power, and blackmails the twins into her service. No overt changes, but back on the 'bad side.'

Romance drama continues. Melanie is torn between softening up for the soft/sweet/goody-twoshoes romance of Jaune, and what she considers her 'real' attractions, dangerous guys like Mercury. Despite this, she and Jaune share a soft kiss under the moonlight. Miltia is the same, her friendship with RWBY dangerously genuine. After the Twins help in the White Fang investigation (getting JNPR involved) Cinder's orders for the Ball are to keep JNPR and RWBY from interfering. M&M do so, but the lines between 'orders' and 'cover' and 'what they want' are blurred. Melanie dances with Jaune, to his delight, but feels guilt for deception. Miltia follows Ruby to the com tower, and gets involved in the Cinder fight. Miltia protects Ruby rather than stab her in the back, and gets hurt by Cinder.

Miltia's defiance angers Cinder. Puts pressure on the twins, threatening to expose them. Once the team assignments occur, and the mission locations for JNPR/RWBY are known, Cinder orders a proof-of-loyalty mission in which the twins are to lead JNPR and RWBY into traps so that the Breach can occur without incident. Miltia, hurt, is afraid of Cinder, and of what will happen if they don't.

Miltia uses her trust to lead Yang and RWBY into a trap at Mountain Glenn. Yang, not Ruby, is captured, and Miltia's betrayal is made obvious to Yang, who curses her. Despite getting revenge, Miltia is hurt and feels guilt as Yang is subdued and locked. Yang's scroll is used to set a distress beacon to lead the others into a trap.

JNPR goes into the trap, looking for Yang. Fight the White Fang lietenant. In the fight, Jaune falls, thinking he's taking a blow for Melanie. White Fang lieutenant gloats about Jaune's foolishness, revealing the treachery. Jaune is aghast, and betrayed. Right as he's about to be killed, Melanie can't abide by it and betrays her betrayal, honestly fighting the lieutenant to save Jaune. She succeeds, but is hurt, and captured by Jaune and Pyrrha who realize the twins betrayal.

Miltia is informed of this, and blackmailed into further cooperation on terms of that if she cooperates, Cinder might spare her sister. Despite this, Miltia goes and frees Yang- who is suspicious, but Miltia wants revenge on the White Fang for hurting her sister more than she no-longer-hates Yang. Enemy-of-my-enemy.

JNPR and RWBY are on train. Melanie recovers. Breach occurs, teams fight Grimm, and twins stand and fight the Grimm with them. When fight's over, Melanie is injured and Miltia surrenders to soldiers and police.

Melanie and Miltia are in jail. Come to terms with their situation. They cooperate, but Cinder flew the coop- she and her conspirators got the com-tower, and no doubt have backup plans for getting into the festival. The twins expect retaliation, and Junior makes clear he can't protect them now. Twins expect no support from the teams or Beacon, and are resigned to only trust eachother.

Despite this, Ozpin offers them a chance to stay on. Calls them an asset not to be dismissed or thrown away. The twins aren't certain how the teams will take them back, but Ozpin plays mysterious old man.

Teams ultimately accept them- hurt, but satisfied by how the twins fought the breach and for the right thing at the end. They aren't as good as everyone thought- but they're still better than the Twins believed themselves to be.

Ruby thanks Miltia for saving Yang (despite the betrayal), and needles Yang into apologizing for the bar fight that started the whole vendetta. Vendetta resolved, and the food fight victory making things even, the twins make peace with Yang and they bury the hatchet.

Separately, and in private, Melanie and Jaune come to terms. Melanie admits she's not the good and pure girl Jaune thought her to be, and doesn't feel worthy of his courting. Jaune is fine with that- the elements he's seen of the 'real' her, flaws and all, was also breath-taking and catching. He keeps the courtly approach and asks permission to keep courting her, the real her- and Melanie saltily refuses it, so that she can take him out dancing on a real date instead. He's encouraged to keep courting anyways, as Melanie finds flatering/amusing, but Melanie intends to show the darker/edgier side she's been keeping secret for so long.

Story ends with the Malachite twins preparing for the first battle of Vytal Festival within Team JMMP. Both have grudgingly turned over a new leaf- for real- as part of team goody two shoes. Despite this, they have a place they belong, and hope for the future, and are on their way to making a real name for themselves- as Huntresses, if not as villainesses like they expected.

End.

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Coeur's Impression:

So this is an example of a good plot overview, but one that doesn't really ever go into enough detail to give us a strong glimpse of what's going on. The premise is there, but it feels really... a little too weak. The revenge angle is just petty enough to make sense, but the sheer amount of work and patience they put into it - that feels a little awkward by comparison. I might have looked to introduce an additional angle that might explain why they're willing to put so much into it. Perhaps Junior loses on the insurance claims or somesuch, and the twins are also out of a job. Now they REALLY want revenge on Yang AND they need somewhere to stay and earn income. So Beacon is a double whammy for them, and there's always a logical sense for why they don't just go "this is boring" and leave. As it stands, I think it had the right direction, but it really is a lot of effort for revenge, when they could just curb stomp Ruby at the start when she isn't looking - which would be more than revenge enough.

Similarly while we had some initial arcs with Cardin, Velvet and Jaune being bullied - they felt a little too devoid of conflict. I'd have liked to see them merged into one slightly larger arc, wherein the conflict is a lot bigger. Perhaps with a little extra conflict within their own team to add to it? Like Jaune wants them to stop Cardin - but the twins shoot his idea down? Maybe leading to arguments?

It just feels like the conflict in this (what I suppose is an intro beacon arc) is all outside the team. It's there, but it doesn't weigh down on either of the twins, which is a loss. In a way all stories need conflict, but it also needs to effect the protagonists. There isn't much use for conflict that happens outside and around, but not within the team.

The seeds are there, they just need arranging and planting.

Again it happens with the Blake Arc, I like it - I do like the intended blackmail that doesn't work out thing, but the conflict is once more everyone but them. We finally see the first stumbling block for them here, when Junior's aid means they can't return to the underworld... but it feels like a lot has happened before it, which didn't have the same excitement. Then this conflict came and went too quickly.

The Jaune Melanie romance, I'm cool with it - part of me actually wishes he partnered with the twin he wasn't going to court, just to add some partner dynamics the other way round. Like Miltia having to fake giving advice to Jaune about Melanie. But ah well, it doesn't matter much. In this summary it does feel rushed, I'd have liked to see the goody-two-shoes romance happen before the Blake Arc, and Melanie initially be quite dismissive of it - but after the Blake Arc, she begins to open up to it a little. I know she's playing the nice twin, but that doesn't mean she needs to auto-accept his flirtations. Early on she could "suggest" she did, in the shooting down Cardin bit, but then truthfully start to feel flattered at this point. (It just feels too fast as it is, Jaune starts the romance, Melanie acknowledges it almost instantly).

I would also have liked to see the "between soft romance and dangerous boys" angle explored more, definitely! I mean obviously she can't date Mercury since she knows he is a threat, but maybe Fox or something? Or even Sun? (I know he's about as dangerous as a marshmellow, but still...)

I liked the ending, but what i think CF might have included in a full draft, but what isn't obvious here (which i want readers to know) - is that when you have this sort of "duplicity romance" thing going on between Melanie and Jaune - you NEED to let little bits of the truth show through. So I would have liked to see little signs of Melanie not being as "good girl" as she gives on, that Jaune DOES notice. Even if they surprise him, and he initially struggles to understand them there still has to be that sort of conflict between them.

As it stands the twin's disguise comes across as too perfect at times, only until they reveal their hand at the end. And the "Conflicts" only really seem to start weighing on the sisters after the Blake Arc, which feels a long way in to start putting the pressure on them. There really needs to be "some" early conflict for them, else, why not time skip it?

It's good, and I don't doubt it would be written well - but as a summary I think the conflict points needed to be spelled out a little more, is all I'm saying.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Very abridged. Very quick. Not the multi-hour write-in fills I'm trying to get away from and save for those ideas I really like, this is practically verbatim from my planning notes, with only a few edits for clarity. I like this one a bit better than the Torchwick one because I actually have scenes in mind throughout, even if they're equally glossed over. I'm not opposed to glossing over stuff, I just like to know what I'm not elaborating.

Regarding Coeur's points... sure, why not? Some fair points to them. I do think there's a bit more character tension going on than Coeur felt- namely the twins evolving feeling regarding being seen as better than they think they are. At first it's bemusing- they're pulling the wool over the eyes of the goodie two-shoes- and seemingly benevolent acts are for their own amoral reasons. They interfere with Cardin because he annoys them personally, not morally. But as it becomes real, the guilt is the character tension- especially regarding the Jaune romance- and that's the real character drama, even before the arrival of Cinder. Long build-up? Maybe- though as a written fic, I'd probably have accelerated past the first few canon arcs. Otherwise, just a case of the limitations of a fast planning and fill. I also think that a desire for power- to become stronger- is a good enough reason to stay in Beacon, rather than just back-stabbing Ruby in the name of revenge. They want power over Yang, not just to hurt her.

I will say that these two villain stories helped me realize the limitations of handrailing canon. Sticking to the canon progression has it's uses, since everyone's familiar with it as a base-line. As the first season only has two main character-specific arcs- Jaundice and Blake- there's some limitations when sticking to it. Handrailing the canon is good when it shows character changes relating to those- someone getting involved with Jaune's trials with Cardin, or impacting Blake's running away. But it can also be trite and predictable if nothing actually changes. Nothing changed with the Roman plot last time- Roman's role didn't change the events- but here with Malachites we have enough of a differance (avoiding the blackmail arc by helping Jaune stand up in a different way, Junior's involvement, in-team betrayal) that it works. A good 'what if' should be _different_ , and not just repeat canon with a slightly different characterization or more favorable depiction of a character.

Looking back I've been relying on hand-railing too much lately. I'll have to see what I can do to get back to some of the more original, non-canon-ish plotlines.


	47. Villain: In Their Shadow

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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TenchiSaWaDa's Prompt: The idea of training a team to be an Anti-hunter task force.

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Coeur's Initial Thoughts: I actually considered a fic like this once, with original characters – but hey, let's do it differently. But how does it fit in Villain week? You'll see.

Disclaimer : I am stupidly busy at the moment, my own fanfics – work – I'm going on a 2 week holiday before the 2 week Christmas holiday (4 weeks off work) but since MAGAZINES can't just "not come out" that means I have to finish a full month's magazines ahead of time. So basically I have to do 10 magazines in one month.

So this will be short as HELL. Basically just a plot summary, and nothing more. There won't be much to connect point A to point B – just assume in a full story there would be transitional chapters.

This will also be my only fill here of the week, as I just don't have the time at all.

Title: In their Shadow  
Summary: Jaune was forever trapped in the shadow of his team, of Team RWBY as well – but when Ozpin offers him a new opportunity, can he come to accept, even embrace that fact?

Intro / Premise: - Jaune's struggling in school, his combat skills are low and despite being the leader he doesn't feel as though he deserves it. He tries his hardest but the others just have more foundation and whenever he improves, they improve far more at the same time. He's falling further behind.

Inciting Incident: - Jaune goes to Ozpin half-begging for help, half-planning to just quit entirely as it's clear he will never be as strong as his friends. Ozpin is sympathetic, but comments that Jaune might never be as strong as Team RWBY – but that their team isn't something to compare himself to, in time Ozpin believes they will even eclipse him. They're just "one of those teams" that comes about every few hundred years. Jaune still wants aid though, and Ozpin says that if it's Grimm he is having trouble with, there are more than Grimm that hunters must fight.

Ozpin tells Jaune about the IHD, the Internal Hunter Division, which deals with criminal aspects within the Kingdoms, including other Hunters who go rogue. When even the criminals have aura and semblances, sometimes the police just aren't enough. Ozpin can pull some strings, get Jaune some training – but it will be dark work. It's easy to fight a soulless monster, less so to fight a person in human skin.

Jaune agrees however, wanting and needing anything he can get.

Rising Tension: - Jaune receives training with a masked figure only known as Teacher, along with regular sessions with Ozpin after lessons. Teacher is brutal and cruel, forging Jaune into someone who leans to fight to avoid pain. Ozpin on the other hand is clever and reasoning, and they discuss things from politics to ethics.

Jaune does begin to show improvement, especially when teacher starts to turn the lessons into ways to take down and disable people. This gives him an edge in a spar against Nora – which he even manages to win, though in doing so he breaks her arm. He is horrified, though Nora just laughs and says not to be.

Ozpin and Jaune's conversations turn to what it means to Hunt the most difficult prey – other people. With Ozpin saying that the White Fang represent the current largest threat to Vale.

Conflict Point 1: - Blake's bit where she goes awol occurs, and Jaune is shocked that not only does Ozpin know, but that he knows Blake's secret too. It's keeping your enemies close, mixed with better the devil you know – and also a test for the girl. Ozpin also values her strength and wants it, and making sure she reconnects with her team is to be Jaune's first task as a member of the IHD. He is even given a mask.

Long story short, Jaune stalks Blake, he even sets off the explosion which draws the others to the dock. But when a White Fang sniper makes to kill Blake he is forced to intervene, and in a tussle accidentally knocks the soldier off the crane – sending him to his death in a gory explosion.

Team RWBY reconnects, but Jaune is horrified by what he has done.

Rising Tension: - Ozpin is pleased however with Jaune, and formally welcomes him into the IHD – where he receives his vows. The IHD is a secret, is to be kept as such – and none may know the truth. If it comes to it he is even to take it to his grave if necessary. There are other rules, such as always protect your comrades, etc… but also that jaune can never tell his original team. Ozpin confirms that they are not among the IHD, and likely will never be – as they lack the mentality for it.

Teacher welcomes Jaune as part of his squad, where the masked' man's name now becomes Leader. Jaune is called Fresh, in relation to his position with them. Alongside them is also Smoker – a smoking man who has a Semblance that generates smoke (which can kill him and them as easily as anyone else) – and Enchantress, a woman who's semblance is to subvert a person's mind with a kiss. It's not mind control, more like an intense drug trip, Leader explains – but either way, she's their interrogation expert.

Ozpin interrupts introductions to give them their task – the downfall of the WF. On their own.  
There's some characterisation of the three characters in this, though not much. They all like to remain secret, and stay masked in most cases. Enchantress' mask doesn't cover her lower face, but all Jaune can see are her lips, skin and lower nose.

Jaune still worries about how he killed a man, but keeps it a secret, knowing it will land him in trouble. Back with his own team he wakes up exhausted and is plagued with nightmares – but can't tell any of them, despite their concern for him.

School progresses a little, Jaune is stronger – but less patient, prone to snapping. He stands up for himself, but also spaces out regularly, and to RWBY's real confusion – he seems to ignore any opportunity to flirt with Weiss.

Still, when asked, Jaune spins a believable tale about how he's growing up, and dedicating himself more to his career, how else did he suddenly become competent!?

7h agoConflict Point 2 – A few weeks later the incident with the Mech in the streets occurs. Leader and the Team are watching the fight from a rooftop, with Jaune asking if they should help. Leader says no however, they should be fine and considering the fight is on a freaking highway – someone will have noticed.

Instead they invade the WF meeting that RWBY crashed, using the distraction to get inside and cause havoc. Jaune is amazed with their teamwork and efficiency. Smoker covers the area in smog, Leader goes in first – Enchantress is handy with a rondel, but they get to their location without trouble, since most WF are evacuating anyway.

Jaune and Co. break into the final room, to come across a WF lieutenant. They disarm him and capture him, and need information. Jaune watches as Enchantress lifts the faunus' mask up and kisses him, before the man goes slack.

They get information, and Jaune is amazed and horrified about what the man is like – he's a broken zombie almost. And when the interrogation is over Enchantress reveals that she can't control her semblance at all – and sometimes it leaves people a vegetable for life. Hence why she can never have a romantic encounter in her life, she leaves the room and Smoker goes with.

Leader horrifies Jaune by telling him to kill the WF. It's the final test for the IHD, and after much hesitation – and fear – Jaune complies and slits the man's throat. When they leave Smoker and Enchantress congratulate him on his kill, saying maybe they should change his name, but Jaune wants to stick with Fresh.

Rising Tension: - Jaune is back at Beacon, even more troubled than before. Ozpin provides services as both counselling and leadership – helping Jaune through what he had to do, and pointing out reasonably how many people Jaune saved, etc… it's not enough to take away the horror, but Jaune begins to accept the reasoning.

Around this time Ozpin begins to ask jaune if he is jealous of Team RWBY, and the conversation turns to them. Jaune is. They have it easy – their future is a bright one, where they can fight Grimm – never have to question their own actions. It's good vs evil, something he will never know.

Ozpin accepts it, and admits that they are much tools as the IHD are in a way. People need protectors, but more than that people need heroes. Some heroes operate from the darkness and do what needs to be done without raising a fuss, others are heroes because of the morale they bring. They are bright, shiny and attention-grabbing. All the better to inspire people.  
Jaune is under no illusions as to which he is in that example, but decides he can't hate them for what they do. They're just like him, except with a slightly different skillset.

Mid-Story Turning Point: - On Jaune's next mission though, things get worse when the breach occurs. He is at school with JNPR of course, getting ready for their first mission. But Ozpin relays the breach intel they have, which makes Jaune delay their bullhead and ultimately join the fight to defend the city.

It's a canon fight for most parts, except that Jaune comes across Roman during it, injured but alive. Roman taunts him, pointing out how he will have to be arrested – but that he'll break free in time and do it all again. The criminal is able to fight and does so, and Jaune – thinking of the IHD – faces a conundrum.

Roman will do as he says, they know that. For morale purposes taking him alive would be best, but the IHD is of the creed that Rogue Hunters like Roman need a more permanent solution. So Jaune fakes the fight a little, and kills Roman in an "accident."

His team sees it happen and is horrified, but band around him – including Team RWBY. Ozpin nods and comforts him in public, absolving him of guilt in the eyes of those around him – even as Jaune knows it's an act. Ozpin is pleased, and Jaune is shocked/horrified to find that HE is pleased to.

His teams less so, it's all super sympathetic, and to jaune's surprise he doesn't react well. He is beginning to see cold logic in his actions and doesn't see a problem with what he did. Similarly Leader sends him a text saying "Good Job Fresh."

Things are awkward between the teens – as Jaune is noticeably distant and snappy about them, but everyone mistakes it for guilt over his "first kill." Ruby makes matters worse by saying how it was clearly an accident, and she knows someone like Jaune would never intentionally kill someone. Jaune gets angry and says if he could go back and save Roman – he wouldn't.

This leads to an even bigger argument between him and Blake, since she is all for reformation and second chances – until jaune says it may have worked with her, but that doesn't mean he's going to try and save every WF member he comes across.

It's not enough to fracture anything, but it's a big issue – and they don't try to comfort him anymore. Instead all trying to forget it ever happened. As though they can pretend things are okay if no one mentions it.

Conflict:- A little more of the above, as Jaune begins to feel distant from his friends. His fights in combat class end quicker, people whisper about him. Some even call him a murderer. With the Vytal Festival getting closer things get even worse as he has increased jobs with the IHD at night – by which point his team intervenes and wants to know where he goes when he vanishes.

"To kill people," Jaune snaps honestly, causing a scene when the others say they just want to help – they're not accusing him of murder or anything. Jaune says he has a side-job at a bar he needs to work, because without his parents to support him he can't afford to live properly.  
With the IHD they do a few more missions, each more bloody than the last. It is on the final mission however that they reach a crossroad. During that one they actually come across a meeting between Cinder and Adam – and Jaune recognises the former from school. They are discovered however, and after a protracted fight Leader is killed.

Smoker takes command as they flee – knowing the information they have is more valuable than any vengeance. Smoker secures their escape through judicious use of his semblance, only to weaken as he continues covering them. Despite attempts to help him – it's clear Smoker is dying as he hacks and coughs, barely able to clear his lungs.

Enchantress shocks Jaune by kissing the dying man – who's face changes to rapture and joy as he dies. A kinder death, she says – even as Jaune shivers.

When they return to Beacon they are both dismissed, though Ozpin privately gives Jaune an ultimatum. If he wishes to avenge his team and protect his friends – it would be beneficial if something untoward were to happen to Cinder Fall.

Privately an IHD funeral is held for Smoker and Leader, with their code-names carved onto an epitaph as overs watch solemnly. Jaune traces his hand across it as he leaves, saying he'll finish the job for them, and to watch over him.

7h agoRising Action: - The Vytal Tournament begins. It's canon per se, except that Jaune is far more dedicated than he gives off and his team does much better as a result. When it comes to the fight between him and Nora, (he chose the duo) and Weiss/Yang – Jaune is able to eke out a victory, though he uses Nora as a distraction to do it.

Pyrrha is dispirited by his choice, but Nora is enthused – she literally doesn't care if he let them 2v1 her so he could get a sneak attack – that's called tactics.

RWBY are sore but accepting of Jaune's victory – and to him it's all quite bitter. He appreciates them, likes them even – but when he thinks of his team all he can think of is Leader giving his life so they could escape, and Smoker dying with a smile on his face.

And the b*** that killed them both, who even now is clapping softly as she watches the action. But he knows Nora and he will go against them soon enough. The pieces are all coming together, he thinks – as he watches all the people in the collosseum cheer.

The tournament gets a hitch though when there is an accidental death among one of the competitors – namely a certain Mercury Black who was found dead in the changing rooms. People gasp, but the organisers try to hush it up – to avoid a panic – it's blamed on the White Fang – and since Jaune was on-stage in a fight when it happened, he's clear of suspicion. He wonders however if Mercury enjoyed his final kiss.

Crisis:- Jaune and his team and RWBY are chatting about the next match. RWBY wants JNPR to win since they're friends – and also Yang says if someone beat her, they better go on to win it all, or she'll feel like trash. Jaune promises he'll win even if it kills him, but that they've still got the 2v2 against that other team first.

Jaune climbs onto the stage as Cinder and Emerald go up on the other side. With Mercury dead he knew they'd have to make changes, and considering the mute girl's semblance being so recognisable – it wasn't going to be her.

Jaune fully intends to kill Cinder in the fight, even as he cheers Nora on to wreck some s***. However the plan runs into problems when it becomes clear that Cinder conversely, is quite happy to throw the fight, robbing him of the chance to kill her.

In fact she quickly does so – getting ringed out by Nora, removing her from any risk even as his teammate cheers at their easy victory. Jaune watches in horror as Cinder climbs to her face, a fake pout on her features. She sees Jaune watching and even winks at him.

Black Moment:- Jaune's vengeance is stolen, his last chance to kill her taken away by her own choice not to fight him. To make matters worse, Ozpin is sure the strike will be in the finals – and while Jaune is confident that with intel, they will all be able to push the White Fang back – it will still cause losses in the hundreds, if not thousands.

Jaune is to wait it out with his team, and do what he can to limit casualties… but ulaimately that they can no longer stop it before it happens. Enchantress makes herself known to him, a curvy redhead who flirts with him in front of his team, and says she likes her men fresh. Jaune introduces her as someone who works at the bar with him, though the two have a silent conversation between their eyes. With the battle coming, she's offering her aid.

For whatever he decides to do.

Climax: - The final bout is interrupted, even as Jaune and his nameless opponent duck from the explosions – some action scenes, Cinder revealed as the baddie (gasp – shocking amirite?) – JNPR and RWBY come together to fight her and Adam, as the war rages around them. All the robots are now controlled by Cinder from her CCT virus shenanigans.

Adam is powerful and able to hold off Team RWBY on his own, though Enchantress rushes to help them out on Jaune's orders. Cinder is just as deadly, revealing that she recognised him from that night and considered killing him so many times. Jaune's team is confused, but doesn't say anything – too busy trying to take her down.

Long-story short, battle happens – Jaune captures Cinder after much adversity. While she is held down on her knees she reveals Jaune's sordid secrets out loud to RWBY and JNPR – about how he is a murderer just as cruel as her. They are shocked but also doubtful – why should they believe her words, but when Jaune doesn't argue they go quiet.

Behind them they hear a thump – only to see Adam dead with Jaune's friend stood over his body. Blake is beside herself and furious, but Yang holds her back. Ruby shouts angrily that such isn't the way of hunters, but freezes when the woman tells Jaune to finish things up.  
They turn back, plead with him – that she's been captured, but even Cinder laughs at their words, saying this world isn't one for children – before he runs her through, spilling her blood upon the ground – even as Team RWBY rush him and beat him down, consciousness fading.

Resolution:- Military tribunal scenario, Jaune is stripped of his position as a Hunter and Student of Beacon and expelled from the school. Team RWBY watches sadly, NPR even more so. Though Nora gives him a little "call me" motion with her hands, and Ren nods silently in support.

Ozpin escorts Jaune from the school, asking if he's angry that the Headmaster didn't stand up for him. Jaune is not, because at the end of the day Ozpin is a figurehead much like RWBY. The world of Remnant needs heroes, it also needs fair leaders who are loved by all.

As the Bullhead lands and Jaune steps off, Ozpin counters however. The Headmaster says Jaune's words are true, but that the world also needs those who think of darker thoughts, those who get things done quietly, who operate beneath the radar as it were.

Ozpin needs another version of himself, a leader who can handle the darker side of Beacon – of Vale. He needs someone to take over the IHD, someone who can run it so he doesn't have to, so he can spend time moulding the figureheads and making sure Beacon produces the finest.  
Jaune hesitates, saying that would put him close to RWBY and NPR again, isn't that dangerous?

Ozpin shrugs, he never said the work was safe or easy – but it pays, and he's in need of a hero of a darker variety.

Jaune accepts Ozpin's hand, thinking that he never became the hero he wanted to be. He always compared himself to RWBY, because they shined the brightest. But in the end, he's come to realise he will always be in their shadows – but that it's not necessarily a bad thing.

They just each had their different roles to play.

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C.F.'s Impression:You know what this reminds me of? An anbu!Naruto fanfic. We have young man/boy, brought into secretive special forces, becoming stronger and self-confident at cost of morality and normality. Dubious ethics in name of greater good apply.

As a character development piece of breaking friendships, this isn't bad. It's gradual, reasoned, and self-inflicted. I've recently had my own musings on a 'how to break Jaune away from his friends' story, and while it's significantly different in tone it has a number of similar underpinnings. Feeling ostricized and outcast. Seeking an outside mentor figure for help. Isolation from friends and peers, even as the alternative mentor figure offers the missing elements believed needed for acceptance (power and self-respect). Gradual indoctrination to alternative viewpoints, increasingly incompatible views with the friends, and ultimately willful separation.

Coeur did it by cyncism, evny, and greater-good morality. I'd do it by ethics, respect, and questioning friendship. Either way, a good and gradual character developmentment story.

Not bad for an absurd premise.

Not the anti-hunter task force. Not even the OC's. Those make sense. In a setting in which superpowers can be granted and trained, an anti-Hunter force for rogue hunter and empowered criminals is eminently sensible. Having them be the anti-heroes is also fair-game. Their job is to beat people with super-powers, powers which may or may not surpass their own and are beyond the common criminal when it comes time to restrain and imprison them. Considering how honored Hunters are, it even makes sense why they'd be kept a secret. A secretive sub-elite who's sole job is to be the anti-elite makes sense.

What's ridiculous is that anyone would entertain the thought of failingstudent!Jaune. Going into the reasons why would take too long, and come across as belittling Coeur in what was a self-admitted hasty fill, so I'll simply say that I giggled and would not be able to take this seriously as an actual story.

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Coeur's Reflection:

There we go - not great, but passable. The ending needed work, just lacked the time to do anything with it. OC's, Jaune as a semi-villain, RWBY never reconnects with him. Sad, but there you go - I wanted to show the cynical side of RWBY.

They are figure-heads, too idealistic to ever accept what Jaune needs to become.

His team? Slowly drifted away. A casualty of his new life.

Intentionally stepping away from canon characters and not reconnecting? Planned, but risky. Ah well, like I said - busy as f***!

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Author's Note:

And that's the resolution of Villain Week. 2 fills from each of us. A surprisingly hard week to write for. I had a hard time coming up with good ideas, and saw only a few that appealed to me. Coeur had restrictions in time, but also in not wanting to repeat certain characters or plots.

The next Theme Week poll is over. After over 90 voters, 43 chose 'Continuation Week'- the chance to polish, re-do, or continue previous fills of ours. That applies to me more than Coeur, I suspect, but we'll see.

Finally, we are taking a hiatus for the next few weeks. Consider this a chance for us to catch up and get some buffer space- Coeur's got various projects and prompts to hit, I've got ghost Jaune to return to, and we both have a significant stuff IRL.

Writer Games will continue no later than December.


	48. PWP: Plot With(out) P O R N

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt- Blake loved Ninjas of Love - it wasn't exactly the most well-kept secret. But when a freak accident results in her being transported into the NoL universe - as the main female lead no less... well things become more than a little awkward. Especially when it turns out the rest of the cast has been replaced with the people she knew in real life, both friend and enemy alike.

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College Fool's Fill:

Title: PWP: Plot (Without) Porn

Summary: Blake loved Ninjas of Love - it wasn't exactly the most well-kept secret. But when a freak accident results in her being transported into the NoL universe - as the main female lead no less... well things become more than a little awkward. Especially when it turns out the rest of the cast has been replaced with the people she knew in real life, both friend and enemy alike.

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Story begins with Blake at Beacon. A late night reading her just-released favorite series goes awry after a tedius afternoon of Sun's unwanted flirting, Team RWBY's teasings of her reading, and Team JNPR's antics leading to a dust explosion while goofing around. Blake awakes in the middle of a steamy sauna... and with Yang a flirtatious, but concerned, company. The sexual tension in the air is obvious- but Blake is disconcerted and confused, and the script goes awry when she escapes and tries to figure out what's going on.

It's like something out of her latest Ninja's of Love- a cheesy story about a ninja who wakes up in a bathhouse without a memory of how she got there. Her first experiences seem to mirror the first chapter of the plot- Blake's confusion and disorientation is blamed on the bathhouse heat and amnesia- and the action picks up right where she'd left off reading, with a sudden attack by... the ninjas of the White Fang, hunting her as a traitor? Yang helps her fight them- but it's Yang's flirtations afterwards that convince Blake she really is in her latest novel.

Blake is disconcerted as she and Yang begin their perilous quest. For one thing, Blake has already done a bit of pre-reading- previews before the book came out- but after the first five chapters she doesn't know how the book goes. While Blake is able to meta-game the events early on, soon she's stuck to relying on the tropes of her favorite author, the instinct of a fan, to guess what's happening next and why.

But more importantly... Blake realizes she's one of the heroines. And in her stories, the heroines- they- her heart isn't ready for this!

Especially when her friends are also wrapped up in this- she really, really doesn't want Yang to be her partner in this sense!

(And- in a darker thought- she'll be damned if she lets any of them suffer like some of the protagonists do. Blake is quite able to separate fantasy from reality, thank you very much.)

What emerges is a heroic, comedic, antics and ecchi-filled quest as Blake finds her friends, tries to figure out how to get home (which corresponds with 'unraveling her mysterious past')- while avoiding getting laid in the process. And preventing anyone else from getting laid either- she's a reader, not a voyeur, and really doesn't want her favorite private fantasies to involve her friends.

Her companion list in short-

Sun- a perverted monk/hermit/martial arts master. Invites his way into the quest, and Blake knows he's the intended love-interest for the h-scenes. Ultimately still the good, compassionate, and concerned guy, though- and does the right thing and sticks around to help even when Blake makes clear she isn't interested and won't sleep with him. His better qualities, and character, gradually win Blake over, and by the end he's the genuine love interest- even believing and supporting her efforts to return home to a separate world.

Neptune- a dashing lancer/cavilier from the West, which in-setting is the 'European' Europe-themed counterpart to the ninja-themed 'East.' Literally swoops Weiss off her feet in their first encounter. Blake cock-blocks him so hard, much to Weiss's (sexual) frustration.

Yang- Blake's partner, and the bisexual/lesbian love interest in the story, with echhi scenes about. Tied up- sometimes literally- in a spy subplot about trying to find her mother. Yang is one of the half-breeds of East and West, with her mother being distinctively western vis-a-vis her Father an easterner.

Ruby- Yang's sister, daring do-gooder of justice- and actually the reason for Blake's 'no porn' rule. By the tropes, Ruby is too pure to last- and doomed by Blake's preview knowledge to fall into evil hands, suffer, and be corrupted into a sexual villainess. Blake doesn't let that happen. Blake also wants Ruby to be as innocent the day she leaves this world as the day Blake woke up. It's kind of hard when Jaune, the first face Ruby sees in the dashing rescue sequence, becomes the subject of Ruby's growing interest and sexual awakening.

Weiss- Princess from a foreign land, married to a village-themed lord but her ice-queen reputation has kept her safe and virginal. Hates the idea that she was expected to fall in love at first sight... before she does so with Neptune. A lot of characters suggest she needs to get laid- but Blake doesn't let that happen.

Jaune- knight from the west, or pretending to be. By the tropes, he's the secondary underpowered male protagonist, who's role it is to be the (usually dominated) male in all sorts of sexual encounters. Blake has her hands full keeping him from getting laid- sometimes by the bad girls, and sometimes from the sexual tension within the group.

Pyrrha- gladiator from the west that Jaune bought/conned/freed from slavery, and serves as his companion and trainer. Protective/possessive/competitive over Jaune. Likes Blake for helping defend Jaune's chastity from all those evil women- doesn't like it when Blake defends Jaune's chastity from her.

Ren- Ninja from Blake's past- possibly the childhood friend love interest, but Blake plays it straight and doesn't trigger any flags. Has been fleeing Nora for years after hijinks prompted an engagement he didn't want with a person he's gradually come to not mind.

Nora- Viking raider from the West. Came to pillage the East, and drag off husbands by the hair. Ended up engaged to Ren instead, and missed her boat back home chasing after him. She doesn't seem to mind. She and Ren have a weird almost bondage thing going on- she tries to trap and overpower Ren, Ren ties her up in traps and leaves her unsatisfied.

The White Fang- Blake's ninja village. Rebels resisting against the West's encroachment/influence in the East. A reoccuring rape threat for dramatic and sexual tension.

Roman and Neo- Western aristocrats who are industrialists by day, narcotic ganglords at night. Have a theme of 'Western exploitation' and colonialism- another of the dark/criminal sexual angles. Also work with Cinder.

Cinder- Sexy Sorceress. Also the key to Blake getting home. Blake just knows that being captured by her would lead to a porn scene- which at this point she treats as worse than torture or death.

Etc.

No real plot in mind- only the resolution. Cinder is defeated. White Fang and Roman/Neo arrested. Blake and Sun have a touching, emotional goodbye in which Blake admits she's attracted to Sun, and believes he really loves her too. Blake gets out of Ninja's of Love with her chastity intact... and pretending that everyone else won't be shacking up five minutes after she's gone and no longer there to cock-block them all.

Blake wakes up back in an infirmary bed with all her friends and companions over her and worried. Yes, it was all just a dream. There's relief, followed by a bit of teasing, in which Yang holds up her latest copy of Ninja's of Love, which everyone read aloud while waiting for Blake to recover. Blake is mortified, and everyone's a bit embarassed- but Weiss is actually impressed that it really was great literature with mature topics. Of cultural conflict, exploitation, tradition, and love.

In fact, there wasn't any porn in it at all.

Everyone leaves, except for Sun who stays a little longer. Sun asks if he was in her dream- and cheers when she says yes, until she points out everyone else was too, and not that sort of dream anyway. Still, Blake is able to come to terms with her developed affection for him- both emotional and physical- and to Sun's surprise, doesn't turn him away. Instead, Blake invites him to stay if he wants while she reads her new book. Sun is over the moon- but holds back- and instead offers her some alternative reading material he picked up as an apology gift.

The new Ninja's of Love novel- Uncut Edition.

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Coeur's Impression:

Plot Without Porn

When I first proposed this, CF said some weird things, it was a long time ago - but things like suggesting I was aiming for something different, or trying to trick into writing lemons or something... actually - this is pretty much what I had in mind, and I like it.

It's not rude, it's the opposite of that, and that's what i wanted - that fiction is fine as fiction, but suddenly not quite as good when living it. It's kinda why I dislike Gamer fics, among other reasons.

Anyway! I like the interactions between characters and their roles - changing who they are was a good point, and their fake histories are just tropey enough to fit with the trash a really trashy adult romance novel might have.

"But more importantly... Blake realizes she's one of the heroines. And in her stories, the heroines- they- her heart isn't ready for this!" - this is my favourite line, and something I was hoping for. Though I'd have first like Blake to feel excited - "Oh wow, it's my favourite boo- wait... I'm the protagonist and...? ..."

Either way though it captures it well.

(And- in a darker thought- she'll be damned if she lets any of them suffer like some of the protagonists do. Blake is quite able to separate fantasy from reality, thank you very much.) - this on the other hand I was a little less thrilled on, simply because at first I'd have liked to see her sucked in a little, in that initially she struggles to separate reality from fantasy - until later. But either way, it doesn't matter too much

The inclusion of no porn is the correct choice to make, it should be a satire and comedy about porn, without ever delving into it.

Now there are some small things I might change if I were to write it... which maybe CF considered, maybe didn't.

A harem.

Now we all know how much we hate these, but harems can work if the comedy revolves around it, or/if the harem can be considered the antagonist. So here we could have a reverse harem where everyone (and everything!) wants Blake - why? Because it's a fantasy world and a trashy romance, so Blake literally has Plot-lust, or what she angrily calls Reverse Plot-Armour. If someone is captured? It's her. Who finds out that every inn only has one room with a large bed fit for 15 people? Her...

Massive evil monster terrorizing village? Of COURSE it's a tentacle monster... and of course it seems particularly focused on her.

I'd still go with nothing happening on a porn level, but that Blake has to carefully avoid all the flags hidden around the fantasy world. From quest-giving Kings who want to "reward" her - to the evil Queen Cinder who capture by hints at a fate worse (to her) than death.

"So what, you're going to torture me, kill me?"

"Oh, you'll be screaming alright."

*starts thrashing in chains* "Kill meeeeee!"

You could still develop the Sun angle, in that he is the only one who listens to her desires and tries to hold off on her, even going so far as to being her only ally in protecting her chastity against Yang's drunken teasing and Ruby's moe attempts at Blake's heart.

Still, even without that it's still a strong story idea for a comedy and I like it.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

I like the foundation of the idea. Shame that I didn't/couldn't come up with a plot idea in the time limit, but the character dynamics are what would really carry the story anyways.

So, you may have gathered by now that Coeur and I have a thing for subversion. Expectations, tropes, intentions, prompts... well, I'll admit that (thanks to PM context at the time) I really did think that Coeur was aiming for a porn summary. Apparently he didn't, so I subverted myself right into what he wanted.

I did consider the idea of a Blake harem before I discarded it. Unlike the Blake clones fill, where my dislike/negative desire to write a harem scenario was the reason why not, in this case it was simply because a harem story wasn't the sort of story I see Ninja's of Love being. I see it as having a variety of characters with their own experiences, not a single-character centric storyline. That- plus the inclusion of the friends as the companion cast, when most of them have established love interests aside from Blake, convinced me to not do a harem scenario.

Reoccuring efforts to get Blake, or anyone, laid? Certainly. That's part of the comedy. But having everyone lust after Blake in particular would have trivialized them- and one of the themes/ideas I wanted to go for was that despite being set in porn, sex and the people involved aren't trivial. Ruby puts a familiar face on a horrific, implied gangrape scenario. Jaune getting reverse-raped sounds funny in abstract, until you think of what that really means or implies in practice. Etc. Blake's cockblocking of everyone should be because she cares for and respects her friends- not because she cares about them intruding into her own personal sex life. It's a stronger idea if Blake is acting on principle rather than self-interest.

Ultimately I wanted/want PWP to be that stereotypical fandom claim of Ninja's of Love: something adult and dismissable as porn, but actually having mature themes and drama beneath it all.

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Special Author's Note:

Howdy. Just to give you some expectation management- there won't be much Writer Games this month, and possibly next. This week's entries are really just us catching up on some old ones C.F. wrote over a month ago that hand't been posted.

Coeur's going to be off the web for most of the month, and is rushing to finish his writing project updates for that time in advance. College Fool is supposedly doing the same for school work due in early January.

We aren't ending the Writer Games, but we will be going on a hiatus for most of December and into January. When we resume, it will (hopefully) be with a backfill of fills to post for your pleasure- and if not, probably because we wrote some actual stories in the meantime.

Regardless, we have every intention of returning, and of honoring the next theme week: our continuation/re-do's of old fills.


	49. A Model Student

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt- "Wait, this is a school for hunters!?" Jaune cried out as he recoiled from his newly formed team. "I thought it was a school for…"

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College Fool's Fill:

Title: A Model Student

Summary: "Wait, this is a school for hunters!?" Jaune cried out as he recoiled from his newly formed team. "I thought this was a school for supermodels!" In which Jaune Arc- male cheerleader and underwear model- falls further into his wicked step-mother's devious plan for his future: become a trophy spouse, or die trying.

In a world as matriarchal as Remnant- where two thirds of the Council seats are always held by women, a majority of Hunters are Huntresses, and in which men take their wife's name- sometimes the best chance a guy has to get by is to look pretty.

Jaune was a dumb blonde if you looked at his grades. And a clutz when it came to tools. But he was a nice enough guy, and not bad to look at, and he could live well if he married better. All he had to do was apply himself towards that. Or at least that was the plan- as decided by his step-mother after his father remarried. Now the last of the Arcs, Jaune has grown up knowing that the heroic lineage will die with him- with his death or his marriage.

Jaune has lived a privileged life or sorts, but also one where his future has largely been shaped for him. He's had trainers to make him fit, he's been taught how to make girls smile, he's got in school roles to make guys envious, he's been encouraged to date girls who weren't sincere, and he's even had jobs- not just as a male cheerleader, but as an underwear model. Thanks to his step-mother's commercial and political connections, Jaune has practically been groomed to be a stud for some lucky lady in the future- whether he likes her or not.

And still he's not satisfied. Or happy. But Jaune Arc knows how to smile regardless, because women don't like a mopey guy.

After the fall-through of another marriage interview, Jaune and his step-mother have a discussion. Jaune doesn't want to get married to someone he doesn't care about- his step-mother doesn't care. She's tried for years to give him a good match, something that will benefit her family and let him live well, but Jaune has sunk them all.

It's an unpleasant conversation all around- not hostile as much as unloved- all the more so because Jaune gets no support from his father, who's submissively sitting to the side. Step-mother is clearly the dominant family leader. In the end, Jaune gets last delay: he can't be forced into an arranged marriage until he's finished schooling. Step-mother seizes on this, and tells Jaune he'll be finishing his schooling with the best role-models of Remnant.

Jaune goes to Beacon early, and pulled aside by Ozpin… to see Headmistress Badwitch. Badwitch lets him know that his step-mother pulled influence, favors, and a lot of money to get him admission into Beacon as a student despite his lack of qualifications. Jaune doesn't know what the qualifications are- or what Beacon even does- but Badwitch says it's a special school for a certain kind of model. Jaune just needs to show up for Initiation, and he'll pass.

Jaune goes to see the ship with the main body of students arrive- and notices how muscular the men are, and how amazingly attractive the girls are. Yeah, a lot of them have weapons- props for photo-shoots? Jaune recognizes some of the more prominent families, though- such as Cardin, a fellow 'stud' who's already been sold for an arranged marriage in the future. When Jaune sees Weiss, he knows who she is- and assumes she's here to shop for a husband.

Dust explodes, people leave, and Jaune sees Ruby- who has to be one of the 'moe' models. Jaune likes those models because- at least when they're in character- they try to be cute rather than flirtatious. Even so, Jaune goes help Ruby up, and they start walking- and when Ruby starts babbling about weapons, Jaune's training kicks in as he nods and smiles and pretends to be very interested. His first real expression, however, is when Jaune shows Crocea Mors, which he brought with him- and shares with Ruby that it's his dowery-gift. When he gets engaged, it'll become property of the wife's family. Ruby is offended on his behalf- it'd be like giving your baby away to someone else- and it's the start of their friendship.

The night occurs. Jaune is basically sex appeal- and foreshadows a few strengths. He gets involved in one of the boys wrestling matches- and wins, despite being leaner and less muscular, because grappling is the one thing he's good at. Ren thinks he looks familiar (because he's the underwear model on Run's store-bought briefs). Yang likes the eye candy- all the more when he knows her sister- and Jaune believes she's a fashion model as well. He has pity for Blake- sexualization of the faunus.

In the morning, Jaune gets an odd tip/warning from Ozpin- who tells that he (Ozpin) moved his stuff to a new locker. Jaune goes to the locker, where he finds Weiss and Pyrrha- who, when he hears that she's a tournament champion, he assumes are both here to purchase trophy husbands. Jaune basically nods and smiles agreeably for Weiss, even as he has no clue about who Pyrrha is. Once they're gone, Jaune finds his locker- and inside he finds his gear, and a backpack with a cord. It says 'wear and open when the time comes.'

Initiation starts. Jaune has no clue why they're going to the forest- and Brenda Badwitch selects him as the first for the initiation. Giving him an insincere good luck- she throws him into the woods. Jaune pulls the backpack cord. It's a parachute, and Jaune survives his landing strategy- and realizes Badwitch tried to kill him.

Initation stuff. Jaune is out of his depth and terrified by Grimm- but found and protected by Pyrrha. Ends up doing something brave and martial that he didn't think he could.

Badwitch plays off the almost-death as if it never happened. Ozpin presents himself as Jaune's ally in the faculty- though there are others hidden- and asks what Jaune knows about the Arc Legacy. Jaune doesn't know what it is- and as long as he doesn't, Badwitch will keep trying to arrange his death. The only escape Jaune has is if he gets married- which he doesn't want to. For the moment, Jaune has to keep this all a secret.

Jaune's friends don't know the murder-angle, but realize that Jaune's in Beacon by exception/as trophy bait. They have different views of it- many negative since Jaune is unprepared/not taking this seriously- but romantic-comedy dominates as Jaune's 'be the perfect trophy husband' gradually wins them over.

This is actually bad, though, as the rom-com stuff is pretty shallow stuff: cookies for Ruby, sex appeal for Yang, supportive confidant for Weiss, pro-faunus charity work for Blake, and dependence on Pyrrha. It's all stuff that makes them feel good- even filling Pyrrha's fantasy of someone who relies on her- but it does nothing for Jaune, and what the girls do do for him is as much selfish self-interst as anything else.

Underneath the cheery facade, Jaune is a stepford smiler- practically a stepford husband. He's trying to play the role- ideal submissive trophy husband- but he hates it. Hates how it makes him like his father, who he has no respect for. And he hates how Badwitch is trying to kill him- for reasons he doesn't know- and how his step-mother doesn't even acknowledge the near-death and suggests he simply get married if he thinks the real world too hard and dangerous.

Jaune hates it all- and as stress and weakness and stress born from weakness pile up, he snaps, and he cries, and wishes his mother were still alive- the only woman who loved him without him having to play a farce, and the only one who wanted him to be proud to be an Arc. The only one who believed he could be a hero like he wanted, and encouraged him to try even if he didn't have talent.

No. Not the only one. Somehow Ruby is there- and doesn't simply go along with Jaune's attempt to hide the tears and pretend nothing is wrong- and she's supported him trying to be a Huntsman- not a trophy to be given to a Huntress, a prop to boast about, but an actual Huntsman. And now that she knows there's a problem- that someone is trying to hurt Jaune- she's going to help.

It's the beginning of a reconstruction. Jaune begins to establish himself- to push himself more than he has to or people expect. His wrestling skills become the basis of his fighting style- against people if not Grimm- and he earns respect in the training matches. He connects with the friends- or rather, it's better to say that the girls connect with him- on a real, non-superficial level. It's reversing the rom-com development to varying degrees, but it's gradual. The hardest holdout is Pyrrha- who enjoyed Jaune depending on her, and doesn't like giving it up.

The issue with Badwitch is developed as well. Badwitch is trying to get Jaune killed on step-mother's orders- and it turns out that stepmother is doing this because of the Arc Legacy. The Arc Legacy is a mcguffin- but implied to be something that will greatly enhance step-mother's political power, possibly even putting her on the Council. But the thing is, it only stays with the Arcs- and as long as Jaune is alive and unmarried, only he can access it. The Arc Legacy has been hidden all this time- by the Beacon staff (led by Ozpin) who have been helping Jaune- and can be made known to Jaune on his 18th birthday when he becomes a full man. Step-mother had been trying to get Jaune married all this time because doing so would give her access to the Arc legacy since she married Jaune's father- and in fact, it's implied that step-mother had Jaune's mother assassinated as part of this plan, with Jaune only surviving because of motherly sacrifice. Step-mother held off killing him lest she raise suspicion, trying to marry him off instead,but now that time's running out, she's back to trying to kill him.

Stuff happens, and there's a boss battle/confrontation with Badwitch, who goes above and beyond in an attempt to kill Jaune. Teams JNPR and RWBY are able to withstand the assault, however, and because of her efforts Ozpin is able to lead a faculty coup against Badwitch. Goodwitch is the new official headmistress of Beacon- even though everyone knows she listens to Ozpin- and in her defeat Badwitch gives a lot of the exposition of the previous paragraph.

Though the Arc Legacy is still sealed, once Beacon is controlled Ozpin is able to access things that confirm what he and his faction of the faculty have long suspected: the Arc Legacy is an original copy copy of a treaty agreement of some sort with the potential to radically reshape the matriarchy of Remnant into something more gender-equal. The legality of the status quo greatly favors the matriarchy- from how property is inherited, to legal rights and representation, to the entire 'men must take the name of the women' law- and the Arc Legacy is proof that the entrenched interests are built on a lie. With it, Step-mother could blackmail the world leaders.

Now that Ozpin has control of Beacon, Jaune is safe- or should be. But without the actual Arc Legacy, they lack proof, and there's one way left for Step-mother to win it: the Vytal Festival, where the Champion is awarded great prizes- including, with the consent of a mother, a trophy spouse. If Step-mother, or her allies, win the Vytal tournament, Jaune could be forcibly married- at least in the eyes of the law- and the Arc Legacy fall into the wrong hands.

Jaune is the first the volunteer to fight in the tournament himself if he has to- he's tired of his life being the prize, and wants to fight for it himself. The girls are also resolved to fight and win- not for Jaune, like the earlier immature fantasies, but for respectable reasons. The teachers applaud their dedication- and then start a crack training program intended to make them viable contenders for the championship.

At the end, Jaune is happy with how his life is going- he's becoming an actual hunter, not just a trophy, he has a goal and he's working towards achieving it himself- and his opinion of all the girls has improved from what it started at. During the rom-com phase, they might have tried to use the Vytal prize to claim him as a trophy. Now- now, he'd probably fall for whoever won but didn't do that.

Cheered, and a model student of a hunter rather than a hunter student who was a model, Jaune returns to training.

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Coeur's Impression:

CF totally got where I was going with this, all hail Zoolander for a moment. I honestly did think "lol, he should be a model" and it worked out.

Okay so it's nice on the worldbuilding angle, I like the idea of a matriarchal Remnant, though I do think that honestly a change in world-building should influence established characters. CF is usually really good at this, consider Prism and how all the cast were subtly changed due to the way the world was. Pyrrha, Weiss - they all acted subtly different, because they've grown up in a different world, of course they would! Here though it's slightly more lacking, in that I'd have liked to see each member have small changes.

Little things from Ren being slightly more submissive, to Pyrrha being more aggressive in her chase of Jaune, because everything in Remnant should have taught her (by this culture) that the girls choose the man they want, and take them. Even if she later realises what she has been acting like, and honestly apologises and becomes a better friend as a result - I'd have liked to see those initial changes.

Ruby could be forgiven, her character is already out of the norm for the world, so she could be the same - the only one to consider Jaune for who he is first. But Yang should be more dominant, maybe even going so far as to force a kiss from Jaune. Something she thinks is okay, and that she assumes he is okay with - but which she later learns the truth of. Maybe even Blake, who THINKS she is being supportive of him, because she can see men are marginalised like the faunus are, I'd like to see her show accidental discrimination. Like she doesn't realise that she is treating things as different rules for some, different for others.

Either way. Just feels weird that all the cast are unaffected by the changed world they live in.

Ahem... Brenda Badwitch, I have no idea... honestly.

The main story is okay, it works - the romance isn't really the main part of the plot. Honestly, part of me is a little meh on the ending there - it works, it's resolved, and my complaint isn't that CF didn't HAVE a resolution this time - because there is one.

I think it's just the story line about Jaune being forced into marriage. It feels too tame. I'm sure that for him it's a terrible prospect, but it's nor world shattering, nor is it dramatic enough to get me going. Not when compared to something like Common Criminal, or other fills.

I feel like this is one of those stories (much like Zoolander) in which being too serious, or trying to be, can damage the idea. As a serious story his background as a model is nice, but doesn't really go anywhere. It doesn't affect much, because in reality you can't use it as a weapon really...

In a satire though, where things are exagerated for comedy - you can get away with crazy stuff like the "Magnum Smile." Maybe it was my bad on the prompt.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Coeur brings up some good points about the characters being largely unchanged. While I wouldn't say that this was meant as a SJW fic by any means, there was an intent to show how a gender-slanted society can exist. I really, really don't want to get into any sort of debate on the nature of patriarchy or the merits of a matriarchial society, so I'll simply give two main points. One, this was an attempt at a very modest matriarchial society- it could have been benevolent, it could have been malevolent, and it's in no way meant to be some sort of representation of gender-slanted societies in general. All it's meant to do is give a soft-light on the idea, and it's unpleasantries, of a gender-dominated society from the other side. So when Coeur says the main cast themselves are unchanged- it's a good point, and a missed opportunity. Taking gender biases for granted, not seeing anything wrong with social conventions or dynamics- these in and of themselves aren't bad things, but it's worth considering. The idea of spouse shopping- of having the ability and opportunity to have the pick of the litter simply because you're the elite of the appropriate gender- these are things worth being uncomfortable no matter the gender involved. It's not a romantic thing- which is why the harem was intended to be not-really romantic. Jaune isn't an impressive man with the attention of the ladies- he's a piece of meat being fought over by selfish and self-interested people. Even if they're good people, what they're doing isn't good, and society isn't helping.

Now, moving away from SJW shenanigans...

Brenda Badwitch was a placeholder name I used because Ozpin had to be dethroned in the matriarchial world, but I couldn't bear to use Glynda Goodwitch as the villain. Puns are puns, and why ruin what works?

Jaune's role as a model was chosen for two main reasons. One, to set up the basis for superficial attraction. Two, to give the barest justification for a hidden modest ability- the idea that he was given a few self-defense classes, and that's what he has to run with. Pretty much every other -fill in the blank- option I considered didn't even have that, and no real justification for Jaune staying in Beacon. Unless there was a conspiracy of sorts keeping him in, resolving the misunderstanding would end the plot as quickly as a first-act confession would ruin a romance. "I thought this was a school for X! I don't want to be here!" "Okay, bye." Rocks fall, everyone dies, plot ends.

Coeur says there's no real crisis to the plot, that it's tame. I do and don't agree. It's true the world isn't at stake: Cinder's evil plan is to preserve the status quo, which is hardly monstrous even if it could be better. But Jaune's issue isn't that being married is horrible- it's the issue of self-respect and self-determination. He wants to choose his life, not have it chosen for him. Classic literary theme in women's fiction- which the topic can't really avoid- and parallels with Jaune's canon desire to live up to family pride. Jaune being a stepford smiling husband wouldn't be the end of the world- but anyone who's familiar with that trope knows that being a stepford smiler isn't a good place to be even if you're in 'the good life.'

Ultimately- ambivalent about this. It needs a good deal of polish, but the conceit is there. I'd agree that mixing comedy and seriousness rarely works well- but in this case, the comedy is meant to be the mask for just how un-funny Jaune's situation is. Undermining the comedy serves the purpose, rather than be a flaw.

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Special Author's Note:

(Coeur's) Author's Note:

On the person who asked what we have against flirting – I personally don't have anything against flirting, I do it myself – but what we see in the show isn't flirting, or rather it is – but it's God Awful lol. I'm a little older than some perhaps, and have a lot of female friends – as well as two older sisters, and trust me if they could see those flirting attempts, they would either laugh – or just feel offended.

They are that bad.

RT has a very simplistic view of romance in the show, mainly because they said they wanted it to be U-rated if I recall, and that means they can't go into complex relationship mechanics. So instead they go with everyone having "love at first sight" or "plot-romance" in which people form pairings without any spark, romance or build-up, just to serve the plot.

So yeah, I like Sun, I really do. I also like Neptune, but I hate the romance in the show because it just isn't founded. Blake shows ZERO enjoyment or appreciation to anything Sun says or does – she only even dances with him because Yang kinda guilt's her into it.

Then season 3 she is instantly all blushing and such. Of course things could have happened "off-screen" and honestly that's what RT does, they just say a lot is off-screen. Jaune's development? Off-screen. Sun's actual winning Blake over? Off-screen. Ruby and Jaune actually continuing their friendship? Off-screen…

It's sad, but perhaps necessary if you are only making short episodes and are trying to SPRINT through the plot as they seem to be.

So yeah, If we use canon flirts and canon events – in writing we're probably going to take realistic responses. And while you can say "they like it in canon, so it should be the same way" – if we went by that logic then all fanfiction would have to be rewrites of the show, because we wouldn't be able to do anything different or go in different ways.

I tend to take a character, consider their personality - how they act, and then write them as realistically as I can. Take for instance Blake, I'll look at her foibles, her flaws, her strong and weak points, then consider a real woman in that situation and work from there. And for how "no-nonsense" she is, I don't see her just randomly blushing over Sun dancing in an arena... I mean, that just seems like a major let-down on her part.

Honestly with RT I can't help but think if they felt they couldn't do decent romance due to age-ratings, that they just didn't do any at all. Neptune and Weiss' is literally relegated to a single "Snow Angel" comment (which by the way, won't win ANYONE over in real life - feel free to try it, not a single person would ever find a crappy nickname like that flirtatious or nice).

Just feels weak as hell - at least show Weiss and Neptune hanging out, chatting over homework or something, you know - INTERACTING. Even if it's just in the background and you see Neptune saying something to her and she laughs. At least then we could assume he is flirting and chatting with her... not just "Hey - nickname" "Okay, I love you now"

/

C.F.'s Author Note:

Something similar to the above. I'll forgive a fair bit considering the medium of 10-15 minute short episodes, but character relationships are not R.T.'s strongpoint, going somewhere between 'bad' and 'nonexistent.' I'm also in the camp that Jaune's played-for-comedy attempts with Weiss are borderline harassment- made all the worse because there's no good reason for him to feel that way, and even the lack of a good reason is never addressed. I honestly just mute or fast forward past those parts of the story now.

Similar thing with Weiss and Neptune- if Weiss had lamented/criticized Jaune's crushing on someone he barely knew, only to fall for the same thing herself, at least you'd have self-awareness with your humor, and a possible character point between them. As it is, canonically Jaune's best interaction with Weiss is the point when he no longer does, and Neptune is _still_ a non-entity as far as romance goes. One of the few things I think the fandom nailed was that the most significant aspect of Weiss-Neptune is that it seems doomed to fail. Unless, well, R.T. writing.


	50. 2015 Finale: Unwanted Admirer

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Special Author's Note:

Welcome to a special update of Writer's Game. For one, this is the last entry of the year: Coeur's off the net, I'm working on other things, and both of us have a list of fills to do in preparation for our return. Having a backfill to work through makes the posting easier, and will give you something to look forward.

For another- this is a really good one. Or at least I think so. It's definitely another of College's Really Really long ones, and might have been posted as a stand-alone story like 'An Affair or Something' had it not been for other things.

Call this the farewell for the years- and the aspiration of what Writer Games was always meant to be. Giving just the start idea... and running with it.

Without further adieu-

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Coeur's Prompt- They said love made no sense, and for him that had proven more than true. She barely spoke, and he didn't think they had ever interacted. But it was official, Cardin was madly in love with Blake Belladonna.

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C.F.'s Fill:

Unwanted Admirer

Blake didn't know what she'd said to make him think she was interested. She didn't think they'd ever interacted at all. But she had less than zero intentions of reciprocating Cardin's Winchester's interest, even before the racism- which is why she started a fake relationship with Jaune Arc instead.

/

It starts the night before initiation. Cardin is one of the roughhousing muscular guys who Yang is checking out- when Cardin notices Blake reading in the corner. Blake is takes a moment from her book to see the commotion, gives an appraising and appreciative eye as Cardin flexes in a moment of eye contact, and goes back to her book.

For Blake, it's a momentary distraction and some guy who looks like the villain being described in the story. She soon forgets it entirely.

For Cardin, it's totally the moment he thinks 'she's in to me,' and wants that attention again.

Cardin tries- and fails- to get her attention again at various points up to initiation. Blake is either too into her book, doesn't notice him from afar, or outright passes his attempts to spark a conversation- but a polite 'excuse me' is enough to make his heart race.

The worst, though- the worst is the image of her standing off to the side in the lead up to the launches, elegant but alone, and looking a bit downcast as she watches sisters Ruby and Yang prepare for the initiation test. In that moment Cardin wants to talk to her- wants to end that sense of aloneness- but can't before they're all called to position. He's got it bad- but dreams of pairing with a beautiful partner fail at launch, and Cardin vows to find Blake make her his girlfriend.

/

Story transitions to Blake's POV, early Beacon arc.

Blake is uninterested, to say the least, when Cardin starts approaching her. At first it's a distraction- then it's an annoyance she hides behind a book- and then downright frustrating when he doesn't take a hint. When Blake tries to ignore him, he talks about himself- and when Blake tries to dismiss him and be left alone, he takes that as an invitation to talk more and try to ask her out.

Cardin isn't merely as bad as Jaune's unwanted but weak flirtations with Weiss- Cardin is more confident, more persistent, and more pushy. It gradually takes Yang pushing back to get physical space, including at the lunch table, and Blake is all but crawling up the walls when Cardin enters the same room. As Cardin's bullying habits of others become clear, distaste becomes animosity- and not even the silver lining of 'well, he's not bullying us since he likes you' makes it any better. Teams RWBY and JNPR are protected by the false friendship Cardin presupposes, even though Blake refuses to be called 'his girl.' Obviously her being feisty only makes him more intersted.

A development occurs in a chance meeting between Blake and Jaune, when Jaune finds Blake hiding in the library. Blake's tension- the fact that she lashed out thinking he was Cardin at first- gets Jaune and Blake talking, their first real conversation once Blake apologizes. Jaune asks if he's as bad as Cardin when it comes to Weiss. He's not- in his pre-self-confidence stage, Jaune puts on airs but never pushy- and Jaune admits to Blake that he doesn't have any experience talking to girls romantically because he's never been in a relationship before. Cardin may be bad, but Jaune just plain doesn't know what to do.

This sparks an idea with Blake- and she asks Jaune what if he got some experience? Blake has a desperate plan to escape Cardin's attentions, straight out of a story: she and Jaune will pretend to be dating. Blake will use it for space and privacy- Cardin will back off once she's taken, and their 'dates' can be much-needed time away from him and her overly-social team. Cardin being hands-off of her teammates so far indicate he won't go after Jaune, and once he moves on they'll simply break up. But in order to keep the ruse believable they'll have to deceive their friends until they break up. Though Jaune's uncomfortable about lying to their friends about this, Blake promises to explain it to them afterwards. Aside from building Jaune's experience with girls as she teaches him how to play the part, helping Blake out might even raise Weiss's opinion of him.

That sinks it, and Jaune agrees- giving his word he'll play the part, keep the secret, and Blake pushes him to swear to never even entertain a fantasy that it's real. Blake is pleased, and Jaune's first question- what next- becomes the first lesson of relationships: finding commonality. Blake is pleased when Jaune says he likes to read- she's less so when she realizes he likes to read comic books. They have a ways to go.

Blake's prediction hold true… for about a week. It's a good week, mind you- even funny. Blake and Jaune break it to their friends that they're dating with comedic timing, right as everyone is taking a sip of something. Jaune sticks to the script and cover-story Blake created- a (humorously self-serving) narrative in which Jaune likes Blake for all the reasons she likes about herself ('mysterious,' 'elegant,' 'clever,' 'well read'), and Blake… kind of struggles to find anything about Jaune other than 'not Cardin' ('blonde,' 'kind', 'funny,' '….blonde.'). No one buys it at first, so she forces Jaune to play more lovey-dovey, while cringing and coaching him through the sweet-talking. That Saturday they have their first date, with a skeptical Cardin seeing them off.

The date actually goes pretty well- Jaune buys the meal, they make small talk about (Jaune's) family and reasons for being at Beacon, which Blake vaguely approves of. Afterwards Blake gives date feedback and advice they spend the rest of the afternoon in a bookstore, where Jaune leaves Blake alone and amuses himself. When they get back, Blake makes sure to hold Jaune's hand when they return, and gives him a kiss on the cheek- in view of Cardin. Cardin stalks away, Blake cheers inside, and honestly tells her team she had a good day.

It's a successful week. And then Cardin starts to target Jaune.

Subtly at first- secretly, and then plausible deniability, all while dropping snide remarks about how embarrassing or humiliating Jaune's mysterious mishaps are. How pathetic and pitiful he is. How Blake could do better. It becomes obvious that Cardin's behind it, trying to get Blake to lose interest in Jaune. Which is annoying- but as long as they're going out, he's not flirting with Blake, which was the point of the deception. Jaune and Blake carry on- Blake on the hopes that it's working and Cardin will get tired, Jaune on stubborn integrity, and the lessons of being a better, more convincing boyfriend continue.

This goes on, as does the bullying, and no one really interferes as Cardin escalates- buy Pyrrha does pull Blake aside to voice her concerns. Pyrrha's not the jealous rival- Blake and Jaune's 'relationship' pre-empted any real interest- but she is a concerned partner, and Blake is the reason Jaune is getting bullied. Blake doesn't see it as her fault, or what she's supposed to do- Jaune's a guy after all, and should stand up for himself- but Pyrrha confronts her on the fact that Jaune may be weak but he's been standing up though this for Blake. Blake's been helping Jaune's social skills, but not his combat skills, and Pyrrha's efforts to train Jaune have been rebuffed. Can Blake use her influence as girlfriend to help Jaune accept help and further his training?

It's a fair point- and when Cardin escalates to the point of beating Jaune down in training, only to use it as a public boasting grounds for why Blake needs a strong man, Blake agrees with Pyrrha and twists Jaune's arm (literally) into going along with it. Jaune tries to do it on his own, and Blake overpowers him easily… but then jumps off the use the issue of training as a metaphor for relationships. Blake could overpower him all day, but that wouldn't really be training him. It'd be like Cardin's efforts to come on to Blake, or Jaune's efforts with Weiss- one-way only, and assuming it'll work would ruin any effort of something together. Training, like dating, requires two interested parties to be successful. Jaune trying to train alone is Jaune trying to be like Cardin- a deliberate needling of Jaune's ego and morals that has the intended effect.

What also has an effect is Blake opening up just a tad herself and talking about Adam, her former partner- not going into specifics, but relating to Jaune how she (and even Adam) were once weak people who needed help and training to become stronger. Reflecting and reminiscing a bit more than she meant to, Blake admits to having been lonely since she and Adam parted ways, and that she's glad to have made friends like Yang and Jaune. Friends who are there for you, and help you be strong rather than be alone.

Thanks to Blake, Jaune accepts help and takes training… but the bullying continues. Jaune slowly gets better in combat class, but Cardin has a team and plenty of other ways to pester him. The more Blake tries to help, the more Cardin presses, and the more Cardin presses the more Jaune stresses while keeping the charade. Their weekend dates, rather than escapes for Blake, become escapes for Jaune. Blake is concerned, but doesn't know what else to do- her solutions to this sort of harassment are White Fang solutions, and the first time she tries something bold- out-fighting Cardin in a training match after he humiliates Jaune- her demonstration only further undermines Jaune. Instead of being grateful, Jaune doesn't even speak to her that weekend date, instead going straight to a sullen sleep in the book store. Blake, concerned and guilty, can't even enjoy her book as she watches over him.

Then things suddenly change. Cardin, always the unwanted friend at the table, gets on sickeningly sweet terms with Jaune overnight, just as Jaune becomes Cardin's bestest buddy and advocate. Training time with Blake diminishes. Jaune starts regressing on his 'relationship' skills- even stumbles bordering on insults towards Blake. And his time with Cardin- when Blake tries to confront him during one of their weekend dates, she realizes that Jaune is using the same misdirection and lying skills she taught him, on her. It causes a fight when Blake is upset at Jaune's lack of trust and unwillingness to confide in her- though she's aware of the hypocrisy of being angry at him for keeping secrets. Ultimately they're not on speaking terms except for maintaining the ever more flimsy charade. When they part from a clearly bad date, Blake barely waits for Jaune to be out of sight before she rips off and throws her bow in frustration and returning to her team to curse the stupidity of men.

Blake is angry at Jaune. When she shares her frustration with Ruby- who's been cheering on Jaune's relationship with Blake as something romantic and charming- Ruby confides Jaune's hallway confession with her that Cardin has him on a leash. Realizing that that it's blackmail- that Jaune is being forced into this in some scheme to ruin the relationship- Blake approaches Pyrrha in hopes that his partner can help protect Jaune. Pyrrha doesn't explain what the blackmail is about- only that Jaune is bearing it for Blake's sake, and that it's not something Pyrrha could stop unless Jaune was willing to. Which he isn't. Both girls ask Blake to understand Jaune's feelings, and to not give up on him now when he needs help. Though both girls are thinking love, even as Blake knows it's friendship, Blake knows they're right about it being for her sake all the same. No stranger to the threat or fear of blackmail, Blake resolves to free Jaune of Cardin's leash.

Then comes Forever Falls, and things change again.

When Jaune goes off with Cardin, Blake shadows and follows them. The unsurprising parts entail the blackmail- that Cardin was demanding Jaune insult and upset Blake, and Cardin is angry that Jaune didn't succeed enough to make Blake break up with him. Jaune has some pithy words about that- about how Blake likes Jaune better than Cardin- which earns some lumps, but not even the threat of Cardin's implicit blackmail material is enough to make Jaune agree to break up with Blake himself. When Cardin threatens to reveal it, Jaune spins a story and lies about how Blake already knows his secret. Even if Cardin revealed his secret and got him kicked out of Beacon- a prospect that surprises Blake from where she's listening- they'd still be going out. That's the open and honest relationship the two have with eachother- a claim as absurd as their continuing charade. But Cardin believes it all the same.

Cardin laughs bitterly, and shocks Blake into remaining hidden when he mocks Jaune's faith in Blake's trust by asking if Jaune knew he was dating a faunus. It's clear from Jaune's reaction that he didn't.

Cardin knows Blake's dark secret. He's watched her enough, obsessed over her enough, to have suspected for some time… and he was a hidden witness to the post-date venting where she took off her bow when she was frustrated with Jaune. Cardin's come to terms with his crush being a faunus- he admits he was surprised, but true love conquers all. Instead, Cardin taunts Jaune about the secrets between and Jaune and Blake. Blake doesn't trust Jaune- and Cardin claims that as long as there are secrets between them, their love isn't real.

Then Cardin escalates. Taking Jaune's surprise and silence as a negative reaction against Blake being a faunus, Cardin levels his new threat at Jaune. Even if Jaune claims the relationship would survive Jaune's secret being exposed, if Jaune doesn't break up with Blake Cardin will reveal **_Blake's_** secret. Dooming her to being ostracized from her friends for her betrayal of trust that extended even to her own boyfriend, isolated by the racist students of Beacon, separated from the faunus students who would resent her for hiding as human while they suffered… Blake will be alone, despised. Except for Cardin- who will _never_ leave her alone…

Blake's blood runs cold simply hearing the threat. Jaune's runs hot, and he attacks Cardin in a rage.

The two young men fight over Blake, both passionate and angry as they trade blows. Jaune declares that Blake will never be alone again- that even if everyone else turns on her, he won't. Cardin tries to demean Jaune- that Blake deserves the better man and not someone as weak or pathetic as Jaune- but Jaune rises above by claiming that Blake has made him more than just a weak and pathetic boy. When Cardin demands to know why Jaune reciprocates her feelings- why is someone like Jaune holding out for someone as great and amazing as Blake- Jaune defiantly claims it's because she's that important to him. He doesn't like her because of the self-provided reasons she gave him at the start, but for the things he's gotten to know about her since- her snark, her sense of justice, her patience and compassion for wretched people like faunus and him. He loves those things about her, and he'd never leave someone so important to him to the likes of Cardin. He's her boyfriend and he loves her, damn it.

Blake, the secret witness, is struck at the confessions, and especially at the mention of love. Her mind races as she tries to think of when this happened. Various points and moments across their 'relationship'- points of genuine affection and connection- flash across her mind. It wasn't supposed to be this way- but here it is, by his own admission. He loves her- the real parts of her- enough to fight for her when he wouldn't stand up for himself. She's so taken aback that she barely notices Jaune win during that climatic confession. Instead she watches as Jaune follows his triumph over Cardin with a threatening warning to never bother Blake again.

Here comes the Ursa, almost anticlimactic as a threat, and despite the recent battle Jaune stands between it and Cardin rather than leave Cardin to his fate. There's no fear, no cries for help- Jaune faces it, composed and confident that he can win.

Blake dispatches it in the back of the head, never giving him- or Pyrrha and Ruby, who came towards the sounds of fighting- the chance.

Elegantly walking out of the woods and past the decomposing ursa, ignoring Cardin and the friends, mind spinning from what she's heard and taken in… Blake walks up to Jaune. Jaune turns and greets her like he hasn't said such things, instead claiming he could have handled it. Blake agrees, saying she knows, before kissing on the lips in full sight of Cardin and their friends. In her state of mind she barely knows or cares about the audience.

Ruby squeals, Pyrrha applauds, and Cardin skulks away in disgrace. Jaune, with a subtle glance between Cardin and Blake's bow, asks how long they were watching- wondering if they heard Cardin's threat that started the fight. Ruby confesses they arrived after it started. They got to watch the Battle for Blake and Jaune's climatic declaration- which was totally romantic by the way- and seeing no point to bring up the blackmail angle infront of her friends, Blake goes along with them and says she came in at the same time. Jaune relaxes, and with that they're back on speaking terms. When the four return to the main group Ruby quickly spreads her account of what happened- an account that Blake notices that Jaune doesn't dispute or even look embarrassed about.

On the Bullhead ride back, a tired Jaune leans into Blake and softly thanks her for letting him be selfish and fight for her- to do it on his own, even though he knows she's strong enough to fight for herself. Jaune falls asleep soon after, head resting on Blake's shoulder, and Blake can't bring herself to mind or disturb him. Instead Blake's mind spins on why she did what she did- why she kissed him after the fight- and on grappling with Jaune's battle confession... one that she realizes he doesn't know she overhead.

Forever Falls is a turning point in their relationship- the moment everyone believes the charade and treats it like established and no longer noteworthy. The last doubts and concern that their team had vanish after Ruby's account spreads and whenCardin stops his bullying and leaves them alone. Meanwhile, Jaune goes back to showing the fruit of her training now that he's no longer being blackmailed into being an ass. No longer the immature amateur he was when they started, even Blake can admit he's capable of being a good date.

To add to her ongoing confusion and thoughts, Jaune doesn't break off their fake dates when she admits that to him. While he's openly pleased at her praise, he's not as excited about Weiss when she brings her teammate up. Instead of running off to woo Weiss, Jaune opens up to Blake in ways he hadn't before. Claiming that Cardin had a point about trust between them- still not knowing that she heard it all- Jaune tells Blake not only his past, but his entry into Beacon, and how Cardin blackmailed him. He warns her that Cardin may expose it anyway, just to spite him and break them apart- but Cardin doesn't, and the facade-that-may-no-longer-be-fake continues on by momentum.

For the first time in quite awhile, Blake and Jaune both enjoy their weekend hangout together. They part on a warm, even tender, note- Jaune reflecting that he trusts Blake enough to share his secrets with her, and hoping/subtly encouraging her to feel she can do the same with him about the issue he knows but doesn't know she knows he knows. Blake returns to her team contemplative, thinking about the changes that are occurring. Her friends, just as confused but pleasantly surprised by Jaune's growth, commend Blake for spotting him as a diamond in the rough and compliment her on the quality of her boyfriend.

Blake has entered a period in which she questions herself, what she feels, and what she wants. She knows from Jaune's confession what he feels for her- but she's not sure what she feels for him. He's a completely different person from where he started, a better man who's grown from that boy she first fake-dated- and a consequence of shaping someone into something you find more desirable is, well, desire. Reflecting on what he's become- and seeing what he does, such as stopping Team RDL (not including Cardin) from bullying faunus like Velvet- and musing on what he'll become in the future- is it such a bad thing? Should she take a chance and let it become something real? Should she give him a chance to try?

Blake lets the charade continue, even after Cardin gives her space, as she wrestles with these thoughts and tries to decide whether she should give Jaune a chance. Even if she did, she knows there are still issues that would have to be overcome for a real relationship to start. Like Jaune, Blake believes what Cardin said about a relationship needing openness and honesty to be true. Blake identifies conditions- tests almost- Jaune would have to pass so that a relationship could even have a chance of succeeding. After so many betrayals and broken trusts in her past, Blake _needs_ to be certain she's taking a risk for the right person.

First, Weiss: Jaune's interest was part of how they got together in the first place. While Jaune's half-hearted attention when she brought up Weiss was promising, Blake needs to be sure he's really over Weiss and interested in her. Second, her own secrets- especially the White Fang. Jaune may know she's a faunus, but he certainly doesn't know she was once a terrorist. If he can't accept her past- well, there's no chance of going further, and she might have to flee. That's a bridge she'll take when she comes to it, if she ever does. Finally, mutual awareness: she spied on Jaune's confession, but he doesn't know she's considering changing her mind. Because the first two are obviously the most important deal breakers, she decides to test the waters with those first, continuing the charade of fake-dating until she's either ready to make it real or call it off.

Not willing or ready to broach the White Fang quite yet, Blake's first test is over Weiss, testing if Jaune has lingering interest in the heiress. Blake's opportunity comes when she overhears Weiss commenting on an upcoming concert by the same producers who worked with her for her performance in the White trailer. Weiss intends to see her old manager during the upcoming performance, which is on the same day as Blake and Jaune's regular date. After Weiss makes an off-handed mention that she can get another ticket easily, Blake tries to play clever and subtly informs Jaune of Weiss's interest and opportunity for more tickets. Blake's intent is to see if Jaune would take this opportunity to spend time with Weiss, or if he'd rather go along with their normal mock-date.

When Jaune approaches Weiss to ask about the recital, Blake is frowning behind the book she's hiding behind. When Jaune asks if Weiss could give him two additional tickets and not just one, Blake perks up. When Jaune explains that he's asking on behalf of Ren and Nora, who were interested after he told his team about the recital, Blake isn't sure what to think. Ruby overhears and gets a bit jealous at the opportunity, Weiss eagerly jumps at the chance to be generous for her friends and sister-team, and ultimately Weiss gets tickets for both Teams in a two-team outing. Blake's clever plan doesn't seem so clever as she gets dragged along to a recital she honestly doesn't care much about. But, looking for silver linings, Blake realizes she can take the opportunity to see how Jaune acts around Weiss after all.

The recital is a formal and stuffy affair all around, with Weiss procuring an entire private theater box for the group with all the amenities, but Blake's attention is mostly on Jaune. Who dressed up nicely, and has a good sort of cologne, but who also has her on edge as she scrutinizes his every move. Blake watches for clues, ranging from his acts of chivalry (holding the door open for Weiss… and everyone else) to his chatter (asking Weiss benign questions about what all the fancy things are called) to his seating arrangements (between Weiss… and her). Jaune's acting appropriately, no different from his other dates from before or since she realized his feelings, but Blake needs _proof._ Something that tells her his feelings, something separating him from Weiss. And she's shooting so many glances that some are caught, and Pyrrha even pulls her aside and away from Jaune at one point to ask if she (Pyrhaa) made a mistake somehow in helping Jaune dress up. Blake realizes she's over-analyzing, on a self-imposed rollercoaster of highs for every 'good' hint and lows at everything that suggests an interest in Weiss. Jaune's not making her do this, she is, and so Blake tries to relax when she takes her seat as the light dims.

The recital is fine overall- quality singers all- though Blake notices in the dark that Jaune is bored. Blake doesn't pay it much mind, is even interested as a talented faunus singer takes the stage, until Jaune tenses- and grabs her hand in his.

Blake's first thought is to look at his other hand- and sees Weiss's hand left alone. Blake's heart beats in excitement as she looks towards Jaune's face, hoping to see… something. Nervousness, embarrassment, fondness, something only a faunus would be able to see in the dark. But what she sees is stern anger- not at her, but looking at the booth next to them. Taking her attention form the stage, Blake too is able to overhear them.

It's a bunch of rich racists, snobbing over and dismissing the faunus singer below because of her race. Dismissing her talent on racist grounds, claiming that the only way a faunus could get into any elite institution would be by lying, cheating, or sexual favors. Insinuations that could not only be leveled at the singer below… but at Blake herself, especially when the racists' topic turns to faunus Hunters and Huntresses. And Jaune is _furious,_ maybe even preparing himself to walk over there and give them his mind.

Blake grips his hand back- hard enough that she can feel slight tremors of anger in his hand- and meets his eyes, shaking her head no. Not here. Looking into her eyes, Jaune works himself down and sits back in his seat, a frown on his face as he pays attention to the singer- but keeps holding her hand, and squeezing it when the whispers of the racists come back.

After the recital the lights come on and no one else in the team is any the wiser of what happened, though a few notice Jaune's poor mood. Compared to before Jaune clearly sticks close to her, and a few of the friends notice and raise eyebrows at how Blake is still holding hands with him. If Jaune's holding a bit tighter than necessary… well, they're dating, right? As Weiss leads them through some brief socializing with the who's who of fellow box-seat persons as everyone departs, Teams JNPR and RWBY come across the racists Blake and Jaune overheard.

Weiss warmly introduces them as old Schnee friends and major stockholders, and has a warm exchange with them as they exchange familiar and familial pleasantries. While Weiss is uncharacteristically warm, Jaune is uncharacteristically cold when he and Blake are introduced together as a dating couple. Jaune is cold- even rude- which ruffles feathers, both theirs and Weiss's. Blake ends up leading Jaune away and they step outside onto a balcony to cool off and talk. It's a beautiful night, cool, and the stars are shining down on them.

Jaune's first words amount to that he doesn't like Weiss's friends. His second are questioning how she can be so warm with such racist people. There's a clear anger/disappointment between him and Weiss- and despite herself, Blake can't help but feel a thrill at that gap, especially as he continues. Jaune confesses that getting to know Blake, that listening to her views on faunus and considering them, has made them reconsider his own. Once he would have stood by just like everyone else. Now he doesn't want to be the sort of good person who stands by and does nothing when other people are being targetted- or else how could he call himself a good person? Especially when Blake-

It's a careless stumble, the point when Jaune inadvertently indicates he knows Blake's secret. Blake- pleased at the night's progress despite the racism nearby- decides now is the time to 'reveal' that secret. Still hiding her knowledge of the Cardin conversation- still not wanting to openly acknowledge Jaune's feelings until she knows how he'll react about the White Fang- Blake plays along as if she didn't already know he knew. Jaune, realizing he can't cover, starts to ramble- that he wanted her to tell him when she was ready, that he wants her to know that she can trust him. Blake does, and so Blake slowly, meaningfully, takes off her bow and exposes her ears to him.

It's a tender moment- practically intimate- as Jaune stares and takes her in, and Blake holds her breath as she hangs on his reaction. Jaune whispers that he's wondered- imagined, thought, but not in a bad way- what they'd look like, and he thinks they're beautiful. That Blake shouldn't have to hide them. Blake flushes, even more when Jaune haltingling reaches out and asks if he can touch them.

Caught up in the moment- wanting to feel him stroke them- Blake forgets that they're not truly in private until the balcony door starts to open. It's Ruby, come to check on them and bring them back, and Blake realizes that she's moments away from walking out and seeing her uncovered ears.

Jaune puts himself between her and the door and drags Blake into a kiss on the balcony and under the stars.

Time stands still for Blake in her shock and hyper-awareness. Ruby seeks the back of Jaune's heads, not Blake's ears, and quickly spins around in embarrassment when she realizes what's occurring. With some embarrassed stammering about how the rest of the teams are leaving now, and that they won't wait up for the two of them, Ruby retreats. Blake breaks apart, breathless and speechless at what just happened.

Jaune pre-emptively apologizes- his characteristic nervousness returning- and confesses that it was the first thing he could think of, second being throwing Blake off the balcony. Seeing that Blake isn't angry, he quickly regains confidence to joke about how now they're even for Blake's kiss at forever falls. The ear-touching moment having passed, and an air of embarrassment between the two of them, Blake puts back on her bow and the two make their plans for returning home. Jaune doesn't want to see or face Weiss after earlier, Blake doesn't want to chase after her friends after what Ruby saw, so taking their own time home sounds like a good idea. Blake comes up with the idea of finding the faunus singer from before to offer their praise- which they do, in a heart-warming moment. Jaune offers praise and support as a Human, Blake lets a little hint that she herself is a (secret) faunus, and catching it the faunus singer hints back and praises Blake for having such an open-minded boyfriend- a double-play on Jaune's compliment for the singer, but also his role as Blake's boyfriend. Blake is more pleased than embarassed, doesn't even want to clear up the misunderstanding of the deception, and by the time she and Jaune are ready to return home they're both in better moods and comfortable with each other once again.

Though they don't hold hands on the ride back, they do sit beside eachother- and in a parallel of the Forever Falls trip, Blake leans against Jaune and rests her head on his shoulder while pretending to sleep. Jaune, of course, doesn't shake her off or wake her up until they've arrived, and kindly suggests she get some sleep when they part ways. Jaune leaves off with a parting suggestion that she tell her friends her secret heritage- but also promises that he'll keep their secrets until she's ready to.

Blake returns to her dorm to find her teammates waiting for her. There's a brief confrontation by Weiss at the start, demanding to know what was up with Jaune. Blake tells her about the racist comments they overhead, and Weiss grimaces and confesses that she knows, but that she has to be polite to them for family-business reasons. Hence why she was faking friendliness with her uncharacteristically warm persona. Possible comedy point here for Ruby questioning if Wiess is always lying when she's being nice. Yang pushes that all away to address what the girls really stayed up waiting for- they want to hear about the kiss. Even Weiss pays attention, while Ruby is almost falling out of her bunkbed in anticipation.

Blake thinks backs, and teasingly shares that it was wonderful and the highlight of her evening… before trolling them by claiming she needs to sleep. Scene fades to black as her teammates protest and insist on more.

The next week has a theme of the buildup to Blake preparing to confess to Jaune about the White Fang, which she's been hemming and hawing about actually doing since started thinking about. Before last weekend, it was something she knew she needed to do if she was to give Jaune an honest chance, but still wasn't sure she wanted to. Now she's increasingly sure she does- and is more afraid about what Jaune's reaction will be. Especially since Jaune's minor one-sided tiff with Weiss is over her 'old friends.' Blake wants them to reconcile not only because she'd like her friends to be friends, but she's worried about what Jaune's animosity towards Weiss on the basis of past ties might mean for her. Blake tries to raise the topic, either topic, over the week, but can't bring herself to. Personally there's no distance between Blake and Jaune, but publicly they seem to be drifting apart- especially as Blake stands up for Weiss against some of Jaune's snubs.

Blake ultimately brings herself to talk to Jaune about Weiss over their next weekend 'date.' Jaune's still distancing himself from Weiss- shunning her by ignoring her, which Weiss doesn't mind personally since she understands the reasoning, but which is putting some strain between him and the rest of RWBY. Blake knows that Weiss already distanced herself from the racists, and Blake remembers that Weiss doesn't know Blake is a faunus herself, and Blake won't let those factors (or Jaune) break her from someone who's already become a friend.

Blake confronts him about it during their next date, and in the process confronts her own mixed feelings about Weiss, by addressing that people aren't just defined by those they associate or identify with. Jaune wasn't 'Arc' when he arrived at Beacon- and Weiss isn't just 'Schnee.' Blake shares what Weiss said about faking it- about going along with it because of her family- and Jaune is able to empathize and forgive Weiss's tolerance of people who were also demeaning Blake. Jaune remarks on how Blake was able to forgive and accept Weiss as a friend- despite the family name and despite her racial history- and shamelessly admits he admires her. The only shame Jaune feels is making more of an issue of it than Blake did- though he doesn't apologize for being angry on behalf of his friends. Upon their return Jaune gives a sincere and public apology to Weiss in the RWBY dorm room, and the two are on cordial terms the next morning. Seeing Jaune's forgiveness gives Blake hope, and she resolves to reveal the White Fang secret over the next week.

That's easier said than done. Even with the Weiss subplot at hand, Blake has been struggling with this confession for two weeks. Between this and the Weiss tiff, their relationship looks like it's been on the rocks lately. Blake's been hemming and hawing so much, even the day of their date, that Jaune to ask if she's dancing around dumping him. He laughs at it, but Blake fears he's serious, and that's what sparks the confession.

By this time Blake has prepped the ground-work in her attempts to lead into her confession. She's explained the history of the faunus rights movement, and the White Fang's evolution from peaceful to protestors. So when Blake explains what she did, and why she left… Jaune believes her. Anti-climatic acceptance that doesn't change anything between them. It's such a weight off her back and her mind, Blake gets uncharacteristically emotional and embraces Jaune, who hugs her back and strokes her hair until she calms down. A bit embarrassed at her worrying, at how she led herself down a path of feelings he never forced her too, she's also relieved.

More than that, Blake is delighted that he passed her last test. Blake gives him a peck on the cheek as thanks for listening to her, even as he suggests she tell her friends the truth as well, and walks back to her team room on cloud nine. Again, everyone is waiting and wants to hear- and considering that Jaune's suspicion of a breakup was a fear they all shared after the previous two weeks, everyone celebrates that the troubles are over. Yang and even Weiss make insinuations/have suspicions that Blake and Jaune are on the cusp of taking it to the next level- and Blake playfully refuses to deny it, since it's true. With the tests passed, there's nothing stopping her from acknowledging Jaune's feelings and confessing her own. Because they are her own feelings now- it's no longer 'giving Jaune a chance', but giving herself a chance to dare for something she's come to want.

The next Friday- a special day-early date where she'll confess that she reciprocates Jaune's feelings right in time for a full weekend together- things start going wrong from the start. It beings with Weiss and the girls inviting themselves along with the date on the grounds of meeting the newly arriving students of the upcoming Vytal Festival. Jaune has no objections- and Blake can't object on grounds of 'I'm going to confess to my own boyfriend'- and so slowly simmers. Yang (and Weiss!) subtly teasing about how Blake wants to pull Jaune away for alone time doesn't make things any better, even if it goes over Jaune's head. And to top it off, Blake gets jealous when Jaune hits it off with Penny, who is enthralled by how easily he calls a stranger a friend you haven't met yet. The utterly unwanted flirting from the blonde faunus stow-away is just icing on the cake of a bad day that will end miserably.

But the silver lining- if it can be called that- is that when Wiess sets off about faunus, Jaune takes Blake's side. He even stands up to Weiss when Blake reveals the truth of her White Fang past. Blake leaves angry and upset about her team- but infinitely relieved with Jaune, who helps her escape by blocking pursuit. Blake ignores the scroll calls from her teammates, but answers the one from Jaune even though she can hear Ruby and Yang whispering in the background. She and Jaune agree to meet Blake in Vale the next day, their usual date day, as Jaune tries to help sort things out on the Beacon side of things in the meanwhile. From the background questions and whispering, at least Ruby and Yang have already put together that Jaune knew Blake's secret before they did.

It's the best way a bad day could end, and Blake makes her way to a coffee house to kill time while waiting for tomorrow. She's even looking forward to seeing Jaune, while wondering about how respond to this. Despite how much the tiff with her team bothers her, Blake is optimistic- Jaune's words to Cardin about how their relationship would endure even if Jaune was kicked out of Beacon comes to mind. He may have thought he was lying at the time, but it's true now, and while Blake is concerned about her team she isn't worried about Jaune.

Now if only this blonde monkey of a faunus tag-along would believe that she already has a boyfriend.

Blake suffers through Sun's curiosity, concern, and barely disguised interest, while dropping as many hints as she can that she's quite happy in her current relationship- which Sun doesn't believe. For one, she's pretty obviously upset. For another, he didn't get a 'boyfriend' vibe from Jaune when they passed each other earlier.

Blake hopes that Jaune will shoo Sun away- but while Jaune plays the role when she introduces him with the heavy emphasis on 'boyfriend,' he doesn't have any jealousy like Blake hoped would counter Sun's barely concealed interest. Jaune is the antithesis of Cardin's controlling possessiveness- even making a comment that Blake can easily beat up Sun herself if she doesn't like the compliments, rather than pick a fight with Sun himself.

In fact, rather than the 'jealous boyfriend' rivalry Blake had been hoping for, Sun and Jaune hit it off smashingly- all the more so because not only do they get on the same wavelength in the first few minutes, they both have good, sound advice that Blake doesn't want to hear. Sun raises the importance and feasibility of her team and friends accepting her faunus nature, using Jaune as the example. Jaune reassures her that Weiss has calmed down about the White Fang, or at least hasn't run off to alert the teachers, and reminds Blake of her own lesson of not judging by association alone. Both warn against Blake pursuing the White Fang on her own, and both insist on accompanying her when she insists on doing it anyway.

It's like, whoah, in stereo, between the two of them.

Jaune does one great romantic thing right, though- he gets Blake a few hours away from Sun by taking her to a pay-by-the-hour hotel. A love hotel. Blake feels alight with nerves and a sexual tension as she removes her bow and frees her ears- but when she makes a subtle opening for sex, with the intent of using that as the clincher of their relationship, Jaune tells her to take a nap instead- she hasn't slept since yesterday, and she needs the rest. Blake is more disappointed than not - but ultimately happy when Jaune tucks her in, pets her ears, and gives her a (chaste) goodnight kiss on the forehead. Blake drifts off to the feeling of his fingers petting her ears, thinking she could get used to this.

The docks occurs with Blake, Sun, and Jaune. Because Jaune is there- and because Team RWBY knows Jaune is with her- Team RWBY isn't actually looking for Blake. They aren't even trying to trail Jaune to find her either, because they trust Jaune with her and are afraid that being spotted following him would send Blake off again. What this means is that Team RWBY doesn't even leave Beacon until the White Fang shows up and Jaune calls them- which means no Penny, and a different, more difficult, fight all around when Jaune and Sun are no longer able to convince Blake to wait.

In summary, Jaune saves Sun in lieu of Ruby- but Jaune gets seriously hurt by Torchwick in the effort, putting Blake at a desperate disadvantage as she (and Sun) try to protect him from being finished off. Blake being especially afraid comes across here, though Sun pays Jaune back in spades by helping in the defense, despite the prospect of a love triangle. Still, it takes the (late) arrival of Team RWBY and JNPR to turn the tide, and while Jaune survives he leaves in an ambulance. Before he goes he asks Blake to reconcile with her team, which she does, but her thoughts are with Jaune. She never even notices Sun watching and silently leave.

Blake is racked with guilt at how Jaune got hurt because of her, enough so that even Ozpin comments on her distraction during her interrogation. Cutting it short because of her uncooperative nature and clear distraction, Ozpin makes the arrangements for Blake to return to Beacon. Blake hurries to the Beacon infirmary to Jaune, who is being visited by all their teams. Everyone is happy to see her back, and despite Jaune's modest demurals Blake's team commends Jaune for keeping her safe. Three cheers for Jaune, the surprisingly good boyfriend. Even Weiss admits to being impressed between the Jaune of now and the Jaune of earlier, calling Blake a lucky girl. Blake smiles and agrees, but really wants to be alone with Jaune. To apologize, and confess, and to say things she was terrified she might never be able to say.

Reading her mood, Jaune asks if everyone could give him and Blake privacy, and everyone leaves the couple alone. There's a moment of silence after they've left, with Blake choking on emotion and words she wants to say, and Jaune breaks the silence by noting that her team and friends have clearly accepted her race and her history. She has people she can trust and fall back on- Blake will never be truly alone again. Just as Blake hoped, Jaune asks if they can end the charade.

She's struck speechless when Jaune continues that the reason why is so that she should consider dating Sun.

Blake is struck- almost angry in her confusion- and can only think to ask if Jaune thinks it's because she and Sun are both faunus. Jaune denies- though he does say that Sun being faunus does suggest he'd be familiar of the issue in a way that Jaune isn't. Jaune makes a case for Sun on their brief association- that he's considerate, kind, has a sense of humor, and will stand up for what's right. Also- blonde. Isn't that what she wants?

Blake starts to realize that Jaune must not realize what she feels for him. So trapped in her worries, she's barely considered what Jaune's perspective might be. He doesn't know she heard his whole confrontation with Cardin. He doesn't know that she's been testing him these last few weeks. He doesn't know- and this must be his version of the 'I just want my beloved to be happy' spiel, with a touch of gratitude for Sun saving his life in turn.

He's always been a bit clueless, but she supposes that's a part of his charm. Blake tries to coax through Jaune's latent insecurities, to get him to see. Isn't Jaune kind? Doesn't Jaune have a good humor? Won't Jaune stand up for what's right? Isn't Jaune an attractive blonde? What does Sun have that Jaune lacks?

Romantic interest in her, of course.

Jaune, not cruel but not particularly kind, deconstructs the entire narrative Blake has built of him in her head, starting with Blake's first objection and foundation of everything- the confession to Cardin. Jaune didn't know Blake was there for all of that- and it would have saved a lot of time and confusion if he had, because of all the things Blake considered, she never considered that Jaune might **_lie_** to Cardin. Not about never letting her be abandoned and alone, not about her personality traits, but about loving her.

Because, you know, she made him promise that. That he'd keep the secret and act the part when they started this charade. Just like she'd made him swear that he'd never confuse their arrangement for something real.

It all unravels from there as Blake realizes that despite everything she she's come to feel for him- everything she agonized over and slowly came to accept- he's never felt or done anything for her that can't be explained by friendship.

That's what those reasons he gave Cardin were- not the reasons he loved her, but why he cared for her as a friend. What follows is a deconstruction of the idea that his reasons needed to be anything more than that, with Blake's protests and pointing to past events showing just how unwittingly self-centered her perspective really was.

Jaune blows apart Blake's presumptions on how uniquely special she is to him, things she should have noticed but missed or forgot. She wasn't the only one he opened up to and told his secret about cheating his way into Beacon- telling Pyrrha first was how Cardin was able to blackmail him in the first place. He wasn't upset with the racists because they unwittingly slandered Blake- he was first upset on behalf of the faunus singer. He sided with her against Weiss because he thought Blake was right, not because he's so sycophantic he'd side with a crush.

Blake has had a big part in shaping his views, but it's not all about her. Jaune didn't get angry over Weiss's racist associates just because their insults applied to Blake as well- he was upset because they were belittling the faunus singer, just as he intervened when Russel/Dove/Lark bullied Velvet. Blake may be the one who changed his views on faunus- but his views, his desire to protect people, applies to everyone, not just her. He didn't get hurt at the docks for her sake- he got hurt for Sun, an almost total stranger he met that day, because that's the sort of person he is and wants to be. Someone who will stand up for friends, and who considers strangers the friends you haven't met yet.

Their kisses? He never thought there was anything romantic about them. The first wasn't even his idea- he assumed that Blake was just rubbing salt into Cardin's wounds, to sell the charade to its fullest. The time he kissed her under the stars on the balcony? It was just as he said at the time- the first thing he could think of to keep her faunus heritage a secret from Ruby.

And the love motel? Where she felt all that sexual tension? All in her head. He gave her word he wouldn't fantasize about her during this arrangement- and an Arc never goes back on their word.

He's Jaune Arc. He's a lot of things, including a boy, and her friend- but he isn't her boyfriend. Not really- and it's time she remembered that. He was always was, and still is, in love with Weiss.

At that Blake flees, running past Sun outside while failing to not cry. Humiliated, ashamed, and most of all heartbroken.

Watching her go, Jaune sighs and asks Sun if that was really the right thing to do. He hadn't thought Sun was right- didn't believe what Sun picked up, that Blake was convinced there was something real between them. But Sun's confusion about whether they were really dating or not rang true. Sun thinks Jaune did the right thing in not leading her on- but says Jaune was unnecessarily cruel. Sun specifically calls Jaune out for the Weiss remark- especially since Sun thinks that was a lie. Jaune is silent on that, and the two watch quietly as Blake runs across the the courtyard below the window, wiping obvious tears from her eyes. Jaune asks if Sun intends to chase after Blake. Sun denies it- he didn't raise Blake's feelings to Jaune just to break them up, and he's not that low of a guy to make a move on a girl on the rebound.

Fleeing to her dorm room, Blake cries, heartbroken. It hurts just as much as she'd feared, if not worse. She'd made those tests to protect herself, not to become more invested, and in the end they backfired and made it hurt more. She cries all the more because she realizes that the one who got her hopes up was her. Jaune just did what she taught him to do- what she told him to do- and lied to exactly who she wanted him to. And she believed it.

When her friends return and find her curled up, eyes red, and unable to speak without a tremor, they're all worried for her. Ruby is heartbroken for her, Yang is angry at whoever is to blame, and it doesn't take long to realize its Jaune's fault. They're all upset, and Weiss makes a scathing comment disclaiming all the accumulated good will and respect she'd gained for Jaune, denying any possibility of interest for him now after he broke Blake's heart. Blake's grief is compounded by guilt, since her assumptions have now ruined Jaune's never-denied intentions as well as breaking her own heart. Even so, Blake can't bring herself to tell her friends the truth.

Miserable despite, and because, of her friends attempts at solidarity, Blake sneaks out of the room to find a private courtyard. Blake stays there for some time, until the tears stop, and intends to stay there the night alone…

…until she is approached by Cardin, who she hasn't seen in some time. She has no idea what he wants, and intends to flee- but Cardin stops well outside her bubble, forcing himself to not approach any closer. Explaining why he's there, Cardin says he heard it all in the infirmary. How it was all fake- and how it was all fake in an attempt to get from him. Cardin is clearly upset at seeing Blake upset, and claims he feels responsible. Blake began the farce because of him. Blake believed the farce because Jaune stood up to him for what he almost did- the blackmail threat he still feels ashamed about. Once more, he- Cardin- is ultimately the reason she's hurting.

Blake bites out that it's not all about him- paralleling her thoughts on how her assumptions were thinking it was all about her- and Cardin doesn't have a good answer. Instead he means what he said to Jaune at Forever Falls- that he'd never leave Blake alone.

The words, ominous the first time, take new meaning now. Cardin meant that he'd never let her be alone and miserable- in the same way that someone might want to help an abandoned cat in the rain. Cardin keeps his distance- the only reason she stays and listens- and asks leave to give his advice to Blake: break up with Jaune. Scene fades to black.

Scene resumes with Jaune in the infirmary- cornered in his own hospital bed and bearing Team RWBY's anger in a stoic, unhappy silence despite the charges (some true, and some false) being thrown about him being the worst sort of boyfriend. Even his own partner Pyrrha, is very disappointed. Still, he says nothing.

The teams are stopped by Blake- who returns, asking to talk to Jaune in private. They comply- after she promises to explain how they're wrong after this- and Jaune and Blake are left alone in an awkward silence.

Blake breaks it by pointing out that Jaune could have defended himself from a lot of the charges by telling the truth about how the whole relationship was a hoax- but he didn't. Jaune explains that she never said they weren't still going on, so his promise still applies. To keep the secret and play the part of the boyfriend, no matter how bad he is at it. Blake calls bullshit- the charade is over, but he's still taking the blame. To spare her feelings the public humiliation.

Blake asks Jaune what he thinks of her- really thinks of her. Jaune spells out the friendzone he's placed her in- she's someone he respects, admires, and enjoys spending time with. She's a dear friend he would stand up for, against Cardin or racists, and he went along with the charade after Cardin because he wanted to support her coming out to her friends about her race. He's thankful for what she's taught him, and even enjoyed their weekend dates and spending time together. He thinks she's attractive, is sorry he even inadvertently led her on, and wishes her the best in having a happy relationship.

But not with him, she fills. Not with him, he confirms: he's spent so long clamping down on even the slightest hint of a thought about an actual relationship with her, it never occurred to him. She may have misread his friendship as interest, but he misread her interest as friendship. Even after Cardin and that first kiss- especially after Cardin and that first kiss- he's suppressed and eviscerated any feeling or interest that would have threatened that friendship. And will going forward- even if she doesn't understand or agree, even if it does hurt their friendship now, he won't go back on his promise with her. He's told so many lies to get here that being honest with her- and keeping his promises- is incredibly important to him. Even if it hurts.

Blake sighs in acceptance, with maybe a remark on male stupidity, before formally breaks up with him… and them promptly asks him out, now that he's no bound by the old promises.

Blake gives a straight-up confession her feelings to Jaune- what she feels, and why, and how it's grown from a fake nothing to something real. It may not have been real to Jaune, but it was to her, and even if he doesn't feel the same she doesn't blame him for that- no more than Cardin blames her for refusing his interest. Because love forgives, even if it's one sided, and even one-sided love can be true love.

Blake's confession, one-sided as it is, is frank and honest. She fell for him when Jaune was just trying to be her friend- and she wants to know what they would be like if they tried. If they tried to be more than just friends. All she asks for is for the opportunity to convince him, just one chance. Will he go out with her?

Jaune is silent throughout, and when Blake asks for an answer- and won't accept a delay- Jaune tells her no. He doesn't have feelings for her, and won't go out with anyone without them.

Blake is sad- but no longer heartbroken, because she hasn't lost hope and she won't give up. She vows to keep trying- to win Jaune over until he does have feelings and he does agree. Jaune points out how that mirrors what annoyed her so much about Sun and Cardin- perseverance in the face of rejection- and Blake says that she can understand them better now… and that maybe even Cardin can have a point.

Having come to terms with Cardin after his discussion and advice pushing her here, Blake is willing to admit he might have had a chance if he'd done things differently. Or maybe Sun really will win her over in time if he doesn't give up. But she's going to have an open mind about unwanted interest going forward. Now that she's experienced a one-sided love herself, she doesn't believe that love means stopping at the first 'no' and never trying again. It's about how you go about not giving up- and Blake is willing to bet she won't make Cardin's mistakes in her intended courtship/wooing of Jaune.

Jaune asks if he has a say in that, and Blake admits he doesn't. He can say 'no' every time, and she'll respect his boundaries, but until he swears that it will never happen- and Jaune is silent when she offers him the chance to give his word to that effect- she'll keep trying as long as she feels this way about him. Blake promises- almost teases- him that while he's been her student, he's never seen her truly serious about love, and that she's going to rebuild her A-game. By the time she's through, he won't want to resist. Jaune smiles back at the challenge, almost playful, and the two are back on friendly terms.

Despite her bravado- and thinking she'll need to dust off some of her old books for 'research'- Blake isn't so confident. Before she leaves the room to explain to her team what really happened- though she'd been hoping to tell them that they were together-together- Blake stops at the door and asks Jaune if she has a chance- any chance- of actually succeeding. If he could even imagine a relationship with her. It's a moment of vulnerable insecurity and uncertainty, the perfect opportunity to crush her hopes.

Jaune says he'll think on it.

Flash forward to the Dance. Blake is a wallflower on the edge, watching Jaune in the dress dancing with Pyrrha. They're laughing, and Blake is melancholic.

Despite her efforts, Jaune still hasn't accepted her feelings. Despite what she taught him, Jaune hasn't put his women skills into practice. Though Blake cleared the air with the teams, and even convinced Weiss to forgive him for breaking Blake's heart, Jaune never even tried to make a move on Weiss. He simply helped set her and Neptune up, and never even tried to make a move.

Jaune is still single and came to the dance alone, but in some ways Blake feels that's worse. She feels that he's just wasted- that maybe she'd be able to accept it and move on if he were happy with someone else- but he isn't. Which makes her wistful and wish he'd accept her interests- and when it looks like there's another girl, like with Pyrrha, she's wishing it were her.

Beside her, Sun is being an amiable and friendly companion- perhaps too much so, but Blake is tolerating his presence and honest interest with better cheer than she expected. She doesn't return it, but Sun accepts that and is settling for friends for now. Blake wryly thinks she feels more kinship with Sun over their one-sided interests than being a fellow faunus. Sun chatters away- showing his consistently accurate insight by saying/reassuring her that Pyrrha and Jaune don't have any interest in eachother. Blake still sighs, though- especially when she looks towards Jaune- and Sun calls her out for the love-sick girl she's become. Blake agrees- wryly noting that she thought she was more mature than that. Sun disagrees, and compliments her by saying her maturity has been in how she's handled her feelings, not in having them.

Blake is grateful- and even returns the compliment towards Sun's own conduct- but still wonders why she's even at the ball. Blake didn't even want to come, and wonders why she let Yang convince her, but in her heart she knows why. She knew Jaune was coming, and she wants a dance, but she's afraid to approach him and ask for one lest she come across as too forward and/or annoy him with her continued interest. After numerous failures in the last several weeks, she's afraid of coming on too strong.

As the JNPR dance number ends, Blake notices Cardin- who'd been a wallflower himself all night- cross the floor to talk with Jaune. Instead of a fight, or a confrontation, or even mockery over the dress, Cardin simply says a few words and throws a thumb in Blake's direction, and then returns to the wall without saying a word. Cardin's expression, one of forced control, is firm, and he never even looks at her let alone approaches her.

Jaune comes up to her- awkward and all in the dress- and offers her a dance. Blake is torn- she wants it, but he really does look ridiculous in that dress and she does have some pride left- until Jaune rolls his eyes, grabs her hand, and drags her out onto the dance floor. They talk a bit, on friendly terms. Blake re-affirms her platonic status with Sun, while noting that Jaune approves of the fact that she's being friendly with his friend. She also accuses him of wasting her tutelage by not coming to the dance with a date, though she asks about Pyrrha and if there's any interest. Jaune denies it and explains his platonic bet.

The idea that he'd fake a relationship with Pyrrha- do unto Blake what she and Jaune did unto Cardin- doesn't sit well for him. Both because he doesn't want to lie to Blake like that, even to help her move on, and because he's afraid of Pyrrha becoming interested. It's clear that Jaune still feels guilt over what did happen- guilt that's hindering him from seeking another relationship. Blake notes and thinks that they have have a similar hook-up- Blake would be able to move on if Jaune did, but Jaune doesn't seem able or willing until Blake does. It's a hook up that would be solved if they simply hooked up with eachother, but… well, it's complicated.

Even if it's not simple, they are comfortable together, and as they dance it slips into the familiar closeness from the fake-date days. Jaune jokes/points out that he expected her to approach him for a dance, considering how she's been the one initiating the attempts to woo him over the recent White Fang investigation arc. Blake airily claims that she was trying a new stratagem- absence makes the heart grow fonder- to make him approach her. Jaune asks how she roped Cardin into her plan, which brings a silence between them. Neither is quite sure what to make of Cardin- but Jaune admits that he wouldn't have approached had Cardin not talked to him, and suggests Blake thank Cardin.

When the dance ends, Jaune pulls away even though Blake doesn't want to let him go. Holding on just a bit longer, she asks him if he's thought of anything yet- if he could see himself giving her that chance. Or even just one more dance.

Jaune- tone conflicted- ultimately offers a qualified yes. He can see himself giving his unwanted admirer as much of a chance as she gives her own- and just as many dances. He'll even wear a suit for the next one. With a nod towards Sun, Jaune breaks away and excuses himself to go change.

Blake weighs the opportunity- wonders if this is his way of testing her commitment/sincerity, being friends with Sun, trying to help her move on, or all of the above- until she notices Cardin watching her watching Jaune. Cardin quickly breaks eye contact and looks away, but previous thoughts and conversations echo in Blake's mind. About one sided love, and how you handle it. Blake considers just going up to Sun- but her own words about wanting a chance, or just one dance, echo back at her.

Blake makes her choice when she walks up to Cardin, much to his disbelief.

Just one dance.

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Fin

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Or Is It?

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Coeur's Impression:

This story is more than a little messed up, not in a bad way - but very confusing on the romance angles. CF has created some kind of crazed love polyhedron filled with unrequited love (and I mean FILLED with it) and confused teenage hormones.

It's all very... realistic. But I'm not sure where it lays, to skip all the way to the end for a moment it again feels a little lacking on the resolution angle. As a romance with a happy ending it could have used Jaune finally breaking down and kissing her - or a tragic ending could have used a bit more of a final tragic moment.

As it is, it's a very realistic ending - in that everything is in limbo... that's definitely realism. But in many cases we read to escape reality, and stories really do sort of need more of a resolution to work out.

Do i think it's bad? No, not at all - honestly in my mind all it needs is maybe another 100 words of plot summary, in whatever direction CF would have liked to take it, and it would be done. But while I know CF really likes unrequited love, relationships that don't work out - and up in the air endings... well, they don't really finish things off.

Anyway, onto the main plot, it's more realistic than people might think, this literally happened to me - in that a female friend at university complained to me that every male friend she has ends up fancying her - and asked me not to be like that. So I destroyed the chance ever happening, just convinced myself I never would. And when SHE started showing interest... with 100% honesty if I didn't have that mental block I would have... but I did have it, and couldn't reciprocate.

Their break up here is kinder than mine was. She raged at me, accused me of playing with her heart - and we never made back up. I was always friendly to her, always supportive even after she called me a monster. And sometimes when she felt really down she would just walk into my room and cuddle silently, or just walk into my chest so that i reflexively held her and stroked her hair. But she wouldn't ever talk to me - and eventually university ended and I never heard from her again.

Jaune gets off lucky.

Cardin less so, it's a shame for the poor guy. I would have liked to see more of him in the story, perhaps a moment when he realises she is a faunus and has a personal crisis. His feelings over his racism, and doesn't know what to do. Maybe even bullying mingling with attraction. The whole "bullying because he wants her attention" angle.

Alas, it never happened.

I did also feel that Sun got a little shafted here. He felt out of place, and surplus to requirements. CF wanted a paramour that Blake didn't like, and due to the prompt used Cardin. Which left Sun just kinda hanging there. Sun comes in rather late, directly before breaking their fake relationship apart - and while his intentions might have ended up in a good way - there's no way one would think his motivations as anything other than selfish.

It's sort of like... yeah i can see that Blake was deluding herself, and it's better this way. But the way he does it just smacks too much of Sun having his own motivation to get Blake on the flip-side. Mainly because he doesn't appear earlier so we have no context for his actions, how he figured it out, etc... and sure, that might be hard to implement because it's meant to be a big surprise - even if it just wasn't for me - I've read too much of CF's ideas. Love in his stories is like a Bullhead; ill-fated, flammable and destined for scrap.

I still feel bad for Cardin, because to be honest he doesn't do anything wrong, he just suffers from a poor first impression. And that's a shame... it's realistic for sure, but a damn shame. I can only hope a sequel gives him more opportunities to prove himself to Blake. Maybe with some surprising interaction where she finds out he's actually a really good conversationalist, and she just gets INTO discussing politics with him - to the point that she genuinely has fun and seeks him out for more.

I think what i was hoping for more of in this, is an expansion to his character - in that yeah he's a bully, but that's just one facet of a person. I would have liked to see his other good points, his other flaws too. But just more.

Anyway the story is good, and realistic for sure - but by CF's own ending it pretty much requires a sequel so I'm unsure how to rate it as a stand alone. I suppose it works in a way, there is a resolution now to it.

Overall it's a good story, but requires more obviously. I also somehow feel that Jaune requires more... he just feels too distant here. He goes ahead with the relationship, plays along - breaks Blake's heart - and then just continues with life. I know he isn't cruel in the story, but he just feels so damn uninvested in things! Like he exists just to be the plot-point, and doesn't seem to have any great dreams or desires of his own.

Blake feels very alive, in terms of emotions, dreams, issues - everything. But Jaune feels like a little bit of a zombie because he just doesn't seem to ... well, breathe. At least when he has to break the truth to Blake, make it an emotional scene where he too struggles. Instead it just feels like he's laying out facts in a simplistic manner, with a general lack of shit given.

Similarly come the ending, he still feels so... not stand-offish, but vacant. I just feel he needs his own reasons, his motivation. Imagine if it were a movie and the actor says "okay, what am I thinking - what emotions do I have?"

You need to be able to give him something. And in this one it just feels like Jaune gets the short end of things, because he gets so little to work with.

Also, I'm not sure if this is just me getting a LOT of this very rapidly from CF - but the "always follows his promises" thing - to the point of being so flipping LITERAL about it - is wearing thin. I think it's because we had a big discussion on romances or something (in stories) and I think it just ended up appearing in three in a row, where it's always the promise thing that fecks up the relationship.

You need to break up conflicts with something new, otherwise you're just repeating the same thing in a repetitive manner. Conflict is the spice of life, and you need to mix those spices up a little, this one just appears so much lately that whenever I see it I just think "welp - relationship f*** then." Also it's just how he goes about it... he always makes and keeps promises that are so crappy, can he not just be a little less literal? What if he promised to always let Pyrrha fight her own battles - and then she is killed because he won't help her - even when she begs for his aid?

"Sorry Pyr, I did promise after all. Ganbatte ne!"

Pyrrha dies.

Honestly, with how much Cf goes on with this law of Arcs - I'd like to see a story where he is tricked into making an Arc Oath, and then it turns out horrible. Maybe with the ending being that he renounces his name, breaks the oath and realises he doesn't regret it in the slightest.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

There is totally a story idea about that, by the way. Still trying to work out the title- 'Arc Words Are Meant To Be Broken'?

So. Another C.F. work, of a story summary longer than some actual story attempts on FFN. And not one of my 'Or Something' series. If I didn't already have 'A Boyfriend or Something' on the sketch board, that'd be what I call this.

This was written... oh, three months ago at this point? Awhile ago. I remember vaguely thinking that I wanted to do something that subverted tropes or established ideas, but created something that didn't do that at all. Fake relationship to get away from an unwanted admirer? Cliche. Gradual developing emotions as the fake becomes reals? There's a million manga about that, I'm sure. Promises (Arc Words) coming back for dramatic effect? I think you read Coeur's feelings on that.

Even so... I like this. It might not be innovative, but I think it largely works well- at least for what I was aiming for. I was aiming for gradual progression suitable for a strong young woman falling in love. I wanted a well-supported one-sided love that didn't amount to a baseless crush or unreasonable affection off of a few kind acts. And this was a one-sided Blake-Jaune ship that doesn't center around either making Jaune a harem-worthy lead or a clueless imbecile.

As far as writing teenagers goes, I thought Blake's development of feelings was a good, gradual progression from strangers to allies of convenience to concerned friend to confused crush to love. There's a mix of reason and unreasonableness about it all- the confusion, blurred lies, and misunderstandings and assumptions- that I calls to mind adolescence. Blake is able to be wrong, without being all wrong, for reasons that are right, but not entirely right. Blake makes a few mistakes along the way, but her misconception isn't entirely unreasonable- nor is Jaune's not realizing it.

If there's a thematic dissatisfaction I have with this, it's how Blake ends up firmly in the one-sided but not giving up on love camp. The way I wrote it- on Blake learning a lesson and reconsidering her opinion on one-sided love- would be a lot stronger were it ever a moral of the story or a reoccurring theme. It's not, by any means- Jaune buries his crush on Weiss early on, Sun is very brief and not all that persistent in practice, and Cardin's basically a giant 'don't do that' rather than a reflection of one-sided love. I don't regret the idea of putting Blake in that camp- it's probably the least conventional thing I do, because not many romance stories **_end_ ** with the lead heroine falling _into_ one-sided love, rather than a neat resolution- but I can't help but feel it could have been done better. It's also a bit uncomfortable, if only because I'm broadly uncomfortable with one-sided love and flirting in general- by inclination, I am one of those people who believes the first 'no' is the point to pack up and stop. So Blake ends up somewhere I would try to never go.

Otherwise? Coeur's right that it's unresolved as a romance. I'm fine with that- one of my favorite themes/ideas in literature is 'life goes on.' There's never an end to the story, just a point that the story teller stops talking, and this was one of them. This isn't Blake's love-story: this was the story of Blake falling in love. The story of how Blake's love resolves is a separate story. (Coeur's pegged this for Continuation Week, by the way.)

There are some other weaknesses/structural restrictions worth noting. Yes, Sun was very late in the story- too late to be a real love rival of any sort, and struggling to get recognition or reason for Jaune to like him. The idea was a quick-start bromance between the two would-be-rivals, but there's a short turn-around between first meeting and blowing up Blake's delusion. That said- I think Sun would be a character who'd have been expanded in the time-skip. His role in concept is 'the honest one' who brings light/clarity to Jaune and Blake's relationship- which means breaking it apart at first- but he'd also be a key part in helping put it back together to the point that they're friends again rather than dwelling in shame and/or mutual awkwardness.

Cardin... Cardin is under-used here. Part of that, a good part of it, is deliberate. Cardin might have Blake on the mind, but the story is mostly Blake's POV and Cardin isn't on Blake's mind except when he's making a nuisance of himself. A Blake-centric POV was important to sell the charade and Blake's misconceptions- jumping to Jaune's viewpoint might have spoiled the reader- but it also restricted access and opportunity for Cardin. The period of Cardin realizing Blake is a faunus and coming to terms would be a great part of a story... just not Blake's story as told here.

Despite these limitations, I still like this story concept. I almost wrote it even longer to make it a stand-alone story of sorts. At the end of the day, it offered a few things I really liked. One, a story with an in-built sequel/spin-off potential. (Here's to Continuation Week.) Second, a decent character progression arc for Blake that doesn't hinge around 'will I tell my friends my race?' But third... this fills a personal pet desire of establishing a context for stories in which girl flirts with Jaune, rather than other way around. Call it a personal guilty pleasure- 'The Curious Courtship of Jaune Arc' was one- but I'd like the charm of Jaune not being the initiator of a relationship, without the trite cliches of the typical clueless-idiot protagonist who doesn't realize he's being courted.

Imagine your own scenario. Here be's [girl] and Jaune. Come to terms with their one-sided interest, and the intent to change it. How would **_you_ ** see the courting begin? I'm still trying to plan it out when [girl] = [Ruby]. I never expected for it to work with Blake. Good opportunities for brainstorming.

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	51. (Not) Sharing is Caring

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Special Author's Note:

Welcome back to Writer's Game. Coeur and I are back, and ready for the new year. Big ideas, bigger prompts, and... fewer fills?

Fear not. Writer Games is continuing, and will as long as we feel like it- but we're also both dedicated to numerous other things. You know, _actual_ stories. Writer Games will continue, but not every day or even every week- not unless we can guarantee you something good for a week.

Without further adieu-

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Coeur's Prompt- Ruby made a friend on the first day, and Yang was determined to make sure nothing stopped that.

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C.F.'s Fill: (Not) Sharing is Caring

Yang always had a bad habit of taking and breaking Ruby's things. Toys, boys, friends... would-be boyfriends. Which is why when Ruby made a friend on the first day of Beacon, Yang was determined to make sure she wouldn't be the problem.

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The story opens with a flashback. A young Ruby is searching her room for something, worried and upset. Yang comes in, and Ruby asks her if she's seen it- a doll Ruby received for her birthday. Yang, embarrassed, admits she has and took it without asking. Ruby's too relieved to care- until Yang profers it, broken from rough play.

Ruby is upset, but swallows her anger as Yang explains that she took it when she went to play at another child's house. A sister-brother pair of children. Ruby wasn't invited- which hurts a bit- but Ruby is more interested in the boy, who she clearly has a childish crush on. Ruby wants to know if he asked about her, and other things. Yang, wanting to make amends for breaking Ruby's toy, promises to take Ruby with her when she goes over for a sleepover. Ruby is excited, and Yang thinks it'll be fine.

It isn't. The scene flashes forward- shortly after an early return. Ruby is sulky, and Yang tries to cheer her out, only for Ruby to explode at Yang in childish anger. Ruby was ignored, a fourth wheel, and outright mocked by the boy, and while Yang punched the boy (hence why they're returned early), it doesn't make Ruby happy. Ruby liked him, and he was only dismissing her because he was trying to get close to Yang. Now he's declared he doesn't want to be friends anymore, and he'll never talk to her again.

Ruby blames Yang for it all, saying that she always does this- takes Ruby's toys, her friends, and even the boys she's interested in. She takes them, and breaks them, and leaves Ruby with nothing. Ruby declares she hates Yang, and runs off to their room and locks the day, leaving Yang feeling guilty.

Flash forward to the airship ride to Beacon. Yang is reminiscing as she waits for Ruby to show up. Ruby does, and greets Yang as warmly as in canon, and Yang reflects that she's happy that Ruby never held a grudge. That incident from childhood set a tone for thereafter- even when she didn't mean to, Yang's always inadvertently taken and broken things. Ruby's friends at Signal became Yang's, and stopped being Ruby's. The boys interested in Ruby crushed on her instead. And so on. The only thing of Ruby's that Yang's never broken, never been allowed or allowed herself to touch, has Crescent Rose.

Ruby's never held a grudge against Yang, but Yang holds a lot of guilt, blaming herself for Ruby's isolation and social awkwardness. Yang had hoped that being alone at Signal would give Ruby a chance to make friends of her own without Yang being a distraction. Now that Ruby's coming to Beacon, Yang is both happy and worried that history will repeat itself.

Canon continues on track as Yang seens and leaves with her friends from Signal. From her perspective, friends are mostly 'Ruby's former friends'- people who started being her friends via Ruby, but started ignoring Ruby in favor of her. Yang tries to recommend/push them to re-engage Ruby, but none of them do- wanting her attention only- and so Yang makes a break with them. She won't have time for people who don't have time for Ruby.

Some feelings are hurt, but Yang dismisses them all with a resolve to make a new start at Beacon. This time, she won't be the obstacle to Ruby having friends. Any friend she can't share with Ruby, won't be her friend at all. But most of all, she most certainly won't steal any of Ruby's friends.

It's with this resolution that Yang turns and sees Ruby enter the main hall- and sees her accompanied by Jaune. Yang is pleased to see the friendly back and forth between them- and delighted to see Ruby looking happy and at ease. Yang vows on the spot to help nurture and preserve Ruby's fledgling friendship, lest Ruby ruin it by accident and social inexperience, and so when Ruby sees Yang and separates from Jaune to join her, Yang waves and calls Jaune over as well before Ruby risks ditching a potential friend.

By the same measure, though, Yang realizes she's making a mistake when she gives Jaune a warm greeting- Jaune's smile at the invitation and taking her in calls to mind past boys that she inadvertently drew away from Ruby. Yang realizes she'll have to play cool and distant herself, lest Jaune fall for her and lose interest in Ruby. She won't let herself steal Jaune away from Ruby.

She also won't let anyone else steal Jaune away from Ruby either- and so when Weiss makes her fake flirt, and Jaune thinks she's interested, Yang does her best to crush it quickly. First by pointing out Weiss's sarcasm, and then by rudely interrupting Jaune's discussion with Weiss and Pyrrha to drag Jaune away and back towards her and Ruby. It's not that Yang is shipping Jaune and Ruby, but rather than Yang wants to prevent and pre-empt whatever obstacles to their friendship that she can, including Jaune getting distracted by any other girls other than Ruby. In order for Ruby to have a friend, Jaune's not allowed to have any other girlfriend (or chase after one).

Yang's interactions with Jaune see-saw from hot to cold as Yang bounces from warm approval of anything approaching friendship with Ruby to reminding herself not to get too close and thus steal Jaune's attention to herself. She invites Jaune to bunk down with them overnight so that they can all talk, but then spends most of the evening ignoring him or deflecting his attempts at conversation back to Ruby. She laughs at his choice of sleepwear, but defends him against mockery and tells him not to change after Ruby approves. She declines to find where he wandered off to in the morning while Ruby is changing, but then interrupts his chat with Weiss and Pyrrha to drag him off and scold him for flirting.

Yang is, in effect, a tsundere- and downright confusing for Jaune and others. This is a reoccurring thing.

Initiation happens. The tendency for Yang to perceive everything about Jaune through the prism of Ruby continues. She hopes they'll be partners. She'd like them to at least be on the same team. She's worried about what would happen if she and Jaune became partners- though she'd prefer that to Jaune and Ruby being on different teams entirely.

Yang's worries and efforts mean little as canon teams and partners form. About the only change that happens is that Yang races to catch Weiss when Jaune moves to catch her- wanting to prevent any romantic gesture and sink that ship once and for all. For his trouble, Jaune gets thrown towards the deathstalker, and so is closer to help shield Ruby from the deathstalker after the nevermore pins her. Yay friendship flag! Yang is so grateful she hugs Jaune in sincere thanks, before realize how tightly she does so and quickly releasing him.

Yang is skeptical about Weiss, but the two girls actually get off to a better foot- Weiss appreciates Yang intervening and crushing Jaune's horrible flirting, and so makes a deliberate effort to think better of Ruby by proxy. Weiss falls into a 'can share' category of potential friend for Yang and Ruby- same with Blake, who has no issue. On the other hand, Yang has a slightly negative view of Team JNPR. Nora and Ren are tame enough- they aren't likely to be Ruby's friends, but they seem together enough to not drag Jaune away- but Pyrrha is sure to claim Jaune's time and attention. Even if Ruby doesn't see it as such, Yang sees Pyrrha as 'competitor'- and even if Yang knows Ruby is awesome and amazing as everyone should see, she can tell Pyrrha will be a worthy rival. Fortunately, Ruby has Yang to help.

The first days/weeks of Beacon are Yang trying to bind the teams together for maximum friendships. Yang pushes Ruby to link up with Jaune as fellow teamleaders and have their teams together- and when Ruby is shy or hesitates, Yang does so herself, engaging Jaune directly to invite him to their table before stepping back once more. Yang pushes Jaune to help support Ruby during her doubts as a leader- which he does- and is warm when he returns with Ruby. Before remembering she shouldn't, of course, and flips the tsundere switch.

Eventually Jaune starts to be worrying. While he's being friendly with Ruby- good friendly- he's also shooting looks at Yang when he thinks she's not looking and tries to approach her directly when they're alone. Yang tries to subtly discourage or deflect such approaches- but other times she forgets to remember, especially when he has questions about Ruby, and they have warm conversations. She's dangerously close to being friendly with him, and she knows where that can lead.

Yangs tsundere flips are noted, and confuse everyone. Does she think well of Jaune, or does she hate him? Is she just putting up with him for Ruby, or is she pushing Ruby to deal with him so that she doesn't crowd him? Does she like him, or not? Even Ruby is confused- and much to Yang's horror, Yang overhears Ruby speculate with Blake and Weiss that Yang might be interested in Jaune. Jaune must mean something special to Yang, because Yang's never acted like this with any other boy. Ruby resolves to talk with Jaune to get his thoughts on Yang at the next of the regular team-leader huddles that Yang started for them as a pretext for them to have time together.

After hearing Ruby's speculation, and deciding that Ruby and Jaune are friends enough to continue being so without her, Yang resolves to put space between her and Jaune. To nip any misconception in the bud, Yang goes all tsun, all the time: she forces herself to nix friendly moments or banter with Jaune, tries to push him away, and joins in on the general teasing and light mockery of his abilities when he doesn't. It's nothing too serious, and Yang's even pleased when Ruby stands up to her to defend Jaune after one session, but the period of Yang pushing of Ruby and Jaune towards each other is over. When Ruby tries to mediate and see if Jaune did something wrong she dislikes and he should apologize for, Yang deflects and merely says that they won't have a problem so long as he and Ruby are friends. In Yang's mind, it's as simple as that- she'll step back and out of the way, and not interfere any longer.

That intention is tested as the Jaundice arc starts with Cardin and the bullying. Cardin initially follows Yang's lead in mocking Jaune- but doesn't stop when she does, and Yang realizes she started something bad as the bullying takes it's toll on Jaune. Yang stays back, hoping for Ruby to step up and defend her friend, whose distress is clearly worrying her- but Ruby doesn't. Ruby was comfortable enough to confront Yang in private, but isn't brave enough to make a scene in public- especially as Jaune demurs or denies needing help he clearly needs. Jaune's beat downs by Cardin are especially illustrative- Ruby is fretting, but doesn't know how to help Jaune if he doesn't accept help, and confesses in the team room that she feels she's being a bad friend by doing nothing.

That's what convinces Yang to give up her distance for the time being in order to help Jaune- especially when she catches wind of Pyrrha deliberating on offering to train Jaune. Still more tsun than dere, Yang pre-empts her by cornering Jaune and drags him to the roof. Instead of uplifting encouragement and an offer to train, Yang gives a frank assessment and a beat down- overruling Jaune's protests about needing to do things on his own by blunt honesty and blunter fists.

Despite beating him, Yang doesn't crush him as a person- doesn't mock or belittle him- and instead gives Jaune frank pointers and tips on how to improve. There's no personal fight, and no confession- only Yang admonishing Jaune to learn for Ruby's sake, and vowing to continue this sort of training again.

Jaune shows up beaten and bruised the next day- sparking concerns from everyone about how it happened- but also in better spirits. Direct honesty and a boot up the ass did what concern and pity wouldn't, and Yang notices Jaune practicing some of the tips she told him. Yang still ignores Jaune at the public table, letting Ruby fuss and fawn over him- but soon enough they're back on the roof again, and again, and again.

As the training goes on, Yang's tsun-person slowly shifts as the dere, the personal warmth, begins to re-emerge. Small gestures at first- offering a water bottle or a hand up during relentless training- but gradually more, such as encouragement to withstand Cardin's bullying. Bits of banter during breaks, hard-won praise, and even a public word of congratulations as Jaune beats the second-worst student in the class and starts to rise from the bottom. Yang still tries to frame it in terms of Ruby- that Jaune needs to be better to be worthy as Ruby's friend- but the resumed moments of warmth are real. As is her pleasure when Ruby comes up with ideas to help Jaune endure and cheer up- taking him to Vale on the weekends to meet Qrow for tips and instruction, and so on.

Thanks to Cardin not getting blackmail material, Jaune's situation doesn't deteriorate, it just stays a steady sort of harassment which Jaune slowly begins to rise above through growth and grit. By the time Cardin starts to get frustrated by Jaune's resistance, Jaune is able to stand up in the training ring, and eventually win.

Jaune's first victory over Cardin marks a turning point. After a brief spike in harassment- once which has Yang publicly standing up for Jaune's honest victory when Cardin calls cheating- Cardin slowly begins to turn to less capable targets for bullying. The friends rejoice as Jaune's growth leaves him in a better mood, and Jaune gives credit and reveals Yang's secret training. Yang is displeased- she'd been trying to keep it a secret, and wanted to end it once Jaune could stand on his own two feet- but when an impressed, somewhat jealous, and possibly interested Pyrrha makes to invite Jaune to training with her, Yang objects on the grounds of time conflict. Yang's training sessions aren't over yet.

And so they aren't. Yang tries to hand them off to Ruby- to once more step away from letting herself or anyone else interfere with their strong friendship- but she can't do so in a way that doesn't leave the door open for Pyrrha to intervene. So she and Jaune continue, and her harsher façade come back and forther- periods of warmth, followed by thaws of approval and affection followed by snap-backs as she realizes she's slipping. She continues to interfere with everyone else but Ruby getting close to Jaune, but doesn't do anything herself.

It's confusing and frustrating, and a climax comes around the Blake arc. Jaune is strong and bold enough that when Blake runs off and Team RWY leave to search, he offers to help Yang search. Yang tries to pawn him off on Ruby, but Jaune makes the relevant point that Ruby has her partner. He's offering to help Yang- as a friend.

Yang reacts poorly, and their hunt for Blake is derailed when Yang puts up her barriers and Jaune finally calls her out for it. Jaune doesn't get Yang- doesn't get why she seems determined to ignore him most the time, and yet interferes whenever anyone but Ruby tries to spend time with him. Half the time she seems to hate his guts, but then she does things like go out of her way to help train him or encourage him to spend time with Ruby- things that suggest just the opposite. If he didn't know better, he'd think she was a jealous admirer, and wishes she'd just come out and say it.

Yang reacts very poorly to that. These are, of course, Yang's fears- that he'll start ignoring Ruby in favor of her- and so when Jaune asks outright if they're friends, she denies it. Go be Ruby's friend if that's what he wants- she only helped him because he was Ruby's friend. She even goes as far as to say she doesn't like him, just to drive it in. Jaune gets the picture, and stops pestering Yang- but the uneasy air remains even after Blake is found.

The unease lingers. Jaune is clearly affected, even hurt, by Yang's vocal renunciation of friendship. Their training sessions promptly end as Jaune takes Pyrrha's standing offer instead. Yang's offer/attempt to push Jaune towards training with Ruby is rejected- Pyrrha has more to teach, and Jaune would rather train with a friend than listen to someone who isn't.

That wouldn't be so bad, except that Yang notices that JNPR and RWBY are drifting. Jaune is spending more time, private and public, listening to Pyrrha and taking her ideas for team-training- training that RWBY isn't invited or suited for. Meanwhile Ruby is trying to reconcile and rebuild Team RWBY after Blake's escape. But really… the real issue is that in putting space between himself and Yang, in their mutual avoidance when possible, Jaune is also avoiding Ruby.

It's slow at first, but Yang notices that it's taking a toll on Ruby, who doesn't do well being ignored or avoided. The Jaune-Ruby teamleader meetings come up with less ideas for collaboration, and more things for separation- and Ruby looks more and more depressed each time. The less success her gestures for two-team unity have, the more space Jaune and Yang have to stay away from eachother, the more depressed Ruby gets. And more upset Ruby gets, the less happy Yang is with Jaune.

A climax comes when Yang spies on a team-leader meeting between Ruby and Jaune after a failed collaboration. It's clearly strained- Ruby scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas- and Jaune sighs and visibly gives up. Despite Ruby's protests, Jaune proposes an end to these meetings, and the JNPR-RWBY closeness. It just won't work out. Ruby begs for one last chance to salvage things, and Jaune gives it to her, but clearly doubts it would help.

Yang is alarmed, and angry, but mostly angry as she sneaks away and avoids being seen. Her formerly good mood of Jaune is now in the gutter- so much so that when Ruby approaches her to talk about Jaune, Yang doesn't hide her true feelings. Ruby asks if Yang likes or dislikes Jaune- and Yang firmly, sincerely, says she really doesn't like him. Yang vents about the general, unflattering, reasons she doesn't like him right now- obviously without sharing her eavesdropping- and Ruby gives a soft 'oh' and slinks away.

The next day, JNPR and RWBY sit at different tables in the lunch room.

Despite having Weiss and Blake to share, Ruby is clearly unhappy about it, but her attempts to bring the teams together anyway are foiled when Jaune rejects and pushes her back. The rest of JNPR looks apologetic, but when Yang comes over to investigate they rally behind Jaune. For the rest of the week Ruby is upset, shooting glances at Jaune in class as he and Pyrrha talk and are friendly, and Yang festers with glares.

But it's not until Jaune rejects Ruby outright in a private moment in the hallways- kindly but firmly claiming that they can't be friends anymore- that Yang snaps.

Yang waits for Jaune to be alone, and ambushes him for a 'training session'. 'Ambush' is really the best term for it- it's not a fight, it's a beating mixed with an interrogation as Yang attacks and lashes at Jaune for turning against Ruby as a friend. The two talk at cross-purposes- Yang demanding to know why, Jaune wanting to know why she cares- but in the end Yang shouts harder and punches more and Jaune is a mix of black and blue, and in a berserk fury Yang deliberately breaks Jaune's arm.

Then Ruby arrives, demanding Yang stop and to know what she's doing.

Yang is filled with righteous anger- this is the boy that hurt Ruby, this is the one who betrayed her friendship for no good reason- until Ruby clutches her fists and shouts out that there was a good reason, and that reason was Yang. The team friendship, and Jaune and Ruby's friendship in particular, was broken over Yang.

Yang is shocked, and gradually horrified, as she realizes what her actions and views gradually came across as. She was so determined to not be friends with Jaune that she succeeded- that he and everyone else believes she hates him, and that she only put up with him or did kind things for Ruby's sake. That the moment he was no longer under Ruby's 'protection,' she went and beat him up so bad that he's broken.

Yang tries to defend it on the grounds that he hurt Ruby first, but the truth is that Jaune and Ruby were both afraid that things were irreconcilable between them. Yang was aloof when Jaune was around, Yang repeatedly disclaimed friendship with Jaune, and she honestly said she disliked Jaune when Ruby directly asked. It's not hard to see that this could be an either-or thing in the long run- either Ruby gives up Jaune, or she risks alienating a sister who doesn't like her friend.

Yang is horrified as she realizes that she is the crux of the friendship breakup: Ruby is convinced that Yang hates her friend, and Jaune would rather break up their friendship than being the cause of a schism between sisters. Which is now exactly what's happening- Ruby, upset and angry, accuses Yang of ruining her friendship. Of taking and breaking a friend, a boy, she liked. Again.

She'll forgive Yang eventually. She always does. But she never forgets, and for now she's angry, and disappointed. Just once, she'd hoped to be able to keep a friend she made all on her own.

Ruby takes Jaune to the infirmary, and leaves Yang to her regrets. JNPR and RWBY both hear about what happened soon enough, and everyone gives Yang a cold shoulder or disapproval- not that she expects sympathy. Ruby's disappointment is well earned and widely shared.

Yang sits in the infirmary, waiting for Jaune to wake up so that she can at least give him an apology. Yang, hounded by guilt, gives a monolog to the sleeping Jaune of her reasons and fears- that she was afraid of stealing one of Ruby's friends, and now she drove one away instead. It's the defense she didn't, couldn't, give to an angry Ruby. That she was afraid of stealing Jaune away if she allowed herself to be friends with him.

Jaune's snort of laughter, and pained gasp, is the proof he's actually awake to hear it. He was faking sleep to avoid talking to her- but hearing what she has to say, the air is cleared along with misunderstandings. Jaune claims Yang reminds him of a tsundere sister of his own- so much so that the idea of him falling for her to the point of forgetting Ruby is laughable. Seven sisters means splitting attention in seven or more ways at once, without ignoring anyone.

Yang is relieved, but worried that what she's done can't be forgiven by Ruby or Jaune so easily, but Jaune denies it. Jaune, despite being black and blue and broken all over, is willing to forgive Yang once he understands her perspective- and if he forgives her, then Ruby will come back around quicker than she otherwise would. Jaune's only condition is that they start over again as friends- he thought they were once during the Cardin arc, was hurt when she denied it during the Blake incident, but would like to try it with the real Yang now. Jaune and Ruby won't be friends if Jaune and Yang can't.

Yang agrees to try, and helps smuggle Jaune out of the infirmary so that they can go to the dorm rooms. Ruby answers the door, is initially upset to see Yang, surprised to see Jaune, and shocked at what happens. Yang proffers Jaune forward like an offering. In the call-back of the toy from the start- claiming she found Ruby's lost friend, apologizes for breaking him, and shyly asking if Ruby would be willing to share?

Jaune smiles and shrugs, and Ruby looks overjoyed as she accepts.

End

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Coeur's Impression:

So this was an interesting prompt, and I like the direction CF took it. Yang and Ruby's small backstory thing is a very realistic and good reason for the problem - even if at first it looks like a problem only Yang still agonises about. Though ironically at the end we also see from Ruby's outburst that it's still something she cannot forget.

The build up is good, and works throughout the story. It never feels too rushed or too slow, which is good.

The ending is also good, but there's one thing for me. I would have liked a little more drama perhaps from it. Yang's guilt is delicious, in that way negative emotions can only be in a good black moment. But it never goes quite as far as I would have liked it too.

Now I'm not suggesting suicide or anything. But perhaps we could have Yang, in her self-hatred and knowledge that it's her who is causing problems, trying to remove herself. Perhaps by leaving Beacon entirely.

So when Jaune bumps into her or something, they each fall over - and Jaune sees the documents, he realises what she is doing - and demands to know why. Of course, yang could either get angry - or just sadly say she's the problem between him and Ruby. So if she's out of the way, they can go back to being friends again.

And of course Jaune has to go on a small campaign to stop that, and make Yang realise things - leading to the same ending in a chapter or so. The reason why I'd have preferred something like this is because at the moment there's a lot of growth with Yang - but I feel that Jaune doesn't quite get as much. it takes two to tango, and as much as Yang has a lot of the fault, there's no denying that Jaune COULD have just ignored her emnity and remained friends with the group anyway.

So maybe rather than Yang "revealing" her problems in an overheard hospital scene (which forgive me, does feel a little cliche) - I would have liked to see him figure out those issues himself, showing that he still does care about Yang. Even if the bumping into trope is probably even MORE cliche.

Honestly could have him finding out however you want. Hear whispers from a teacher, see the paperwork, see Yang packing her bags. Whatever. Hell, maybe Jaune even enlists Ruby's help, and they both discover she is leaving - chase after her. And in a scene where Yang frankly admits she's doing this for Ruby and him, they both dog pile her and tell her she's being stupid.

Ruby still needs her sister, and doesn't want a Beacon without her - and Jaune gives his same argument in the canon piece. Or Jaune could face her alone, stopping her from getting on a Bullhead, until she hits him - cue confession - and her delivering him like the symbolic teddy bear once more.

Just my thoughts anyway, but I really liked this nonetheless. A friendship fic for a change, even for me, romance can be too much sometimes.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

I was really close to subverting the prompt and picking someone other than Jaune. More out of spite than anything. I didn't get any further than 'Blake doesn't abandon Ruby at the start' before I realized that this was a story I wanted to play straight. Even if it was basically 'faunus Ruby' without the faunus, and with a tsundere Yang instead.

Coer makes a really, really good suggestion, and I wish I'd thought of it. Pro-tip- anything that can be summarized as 'monologue' is probably weak or lazy writing. That's the advantage of a good sounding board/muse/beta, people. Coeur's point about multiple people showing growth- not just Yang, but also Jaune and even Ruby- is a good point. Few stories are made better by static characters, and this one could have gotten a late-game boost by having Jaune and Yang reconcile by actions and not just words.

So let's say go with it- Yang makes a hospital apology that's not clear, means to drop out, and Jaune discovers it. He gets involved, flaming bullheads crash, and everything. I like the 'bumps into and spills paper' idea- it'd be a good post-injury opportunity for Yang to show some regret and not hostility. It's also a way for Yang to demonstrate/show responsibility for and after the arm-break- that she uses the incident to voluntarily withdraw from Beacon.

Hospital confessions have become something of a crutch for me. They're convenient on multiple levels- combat school leading to injuries of accident/self-sacrifice, relative privacy, and plenty of oppenings for guilt or strong emotion- but it's also a bit of a crutch. What's also a bit... overused? Well-worn?... is this dynamic of 'Yang's relationship with Jaune is based off Ruby.' I've done it before- ladybug Ruby- and I'll probably do it again sometime, but this one was... not bad. I'm relatively satisfied with it, for most of the reasons Coeur gives. I'm not sure how well tsundere!Yang works in practice, but I like the set-up and I adore the final scene. Like Coeur says, it's a culmination of character growth for Yang.

Still... dat tsundere. I don't like that archetype, personally- infact, I dislike it and would never date one. I don't think I could get into someone who I could only trust the honesty of their feelings half the time. Just not for me. But it was required for the story, it was a flaw to be addressed, and probably best of all it wasn't a romantic thing.

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	52. The Artist

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt: "Draw me like your Vacuo girls, Jaune."

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Title: The Artist  
Summary: Jaune's a Hunter (in training), an artist (in name) and a lover (in fact) – but the last thing he expected upon meeting his teammate's love interest, was to meet the girl of his dreams. Too bad she's innocent, immature and… underage.

GASP! Coeur reaching into underage fiction how dare he – oh wait, everyone kind of has to because they're all seventeen. Oh well!

Intro Arc (beat 1) – Setting the Status Quo – bachelor s***

Story starts as Jaune is walking down the corridors to his room, wiping sweat from his brow, but with a cheery grin on his face. With art supplies held under his arm and whistling a jaunty tune as others glare at his early morning cheer, Jaune knocks on his dorm door before entering, only to freeze.

"Draw me like one your Vacuo girls Jaune," Sun Wukong says, reclined completely n*** on their settee in the middle of the dorm. Jaune promptly responds by tossing his art book on Sun's dangling member, sparing them all the awful sight.

Jaune is a member of Team SSJN – Known as Team Sun, because no one cares less about spelling team names than the Vacuo Academy – whose slogan might as well be "f*** that, it's really hot out here!" At Vacuo there are no uniforms (confirmed when we see Ozpin talking to assembled students) – the school is poorer than the others, it doesn't fly – because let's face it, in a desert water is appreciated, the piping in the f*** SKY is not good.

Team Sun are known as the heartthrobs of Vacuo, partly due to their good looks – but more due to their attitudes and filling of various relationship tropes. From flirtation, funny and muscled Sun – to refined, charismatic and chatty Neptune. Scarlet fills the dangerous, pirate angle – and Jaune, well Jaune is an artist. A poet, a painter and a person who can charm any woman out of her clothes.

And he does, often.

Team Sun helped him open up, gave him confidence, because when he snuck into Vacuo they just couldn't care less – he was a bro, and bro's stuck together through everything (terms and conditions apply). They dragged him out of his shell, encouraged him to be whatever he wanted to be – and they all bonded over the horrors of outside classes in a desert at noon, freezing nights – and sand getting everywhere.

Everywhere.

Back to the story, it's revealed that they are preparing to head to Beacon soon, with Sun talking all about this girl he met (Blake) that he wants their help getting together with. Initial banter turns to shock when Sun reveals that he is… serious.

She may just be, the one.

Team Sun comes together under one banner to ensure Sun gets with his beautiful faunus girl (Oh, but keep that secret, you're not supposed to know) – surely with the four of them being players it shouldn't be too hard, right?

Beacon Arc (beat 2) – Meeting RWBY and s***

Team Sun arrives at Beacon and is given a room, there's much initial oohing and aahing – it has shade! It has a shower, the water's cool! It has central heating and aircon! Meanwhile Sun drags them all out to meet the girl of his dreams, with them arriving just in time to witness the end of the food fight – and just in time for Jaune to get a black eye from a rogue croissant.

The two teams are introduced soon after (and honestly for the basis of this story JNPR (or whatever replaces them) just isn't important, so I'll ignore them – assume they are background characters). Jaune spends much of his time watching Blake, trying to get a read for her that might help his bro – and Scarlet does much the same. It's not until Neptune of all people starts showing interest in the white-haired girl that Jaune lets his eyes wander, only to see something incredible.

Flawless features, beautiful skin, a cherubic face, those colours, that hair – she's perfect. She's…

… Fifteen, he finds out later – after trying to chat her up. Much to his horror and shame, though thankfully she's apparently too innocent to know that Jaune was trying to put the moves on her. He tries to rescue the situation however by saying he's an artist and that he wants to draw her – because hey, he wasn't wrong – she is beautiful.

Team Sun are a little concerned, since "drawing" and "Jaune" in Vacuo has always been synonymous with sex – but they trust in him when he says he won't. And of course, he doesn't. Jaune and Ruby form a cute little friendship that her Team are supportive of.

Problem is… as much as it horrifies him to admit it, he can't stop wanting more from her.

Conflict Arc (beat 3) – In which there's conflicting s***

Jaune realises he has it bad for Ruby Rose, cute, geeky – underage. It's a torrid attraction that he can barely understand, because she's everything he doesn't like in girls. Flat-chested, innocent and childish among other things. He initially tries to ignore it by breaking the friendship off, but between trying to help Sun and Blake get together, and Ruby's sad looks (and Yang's threats) he's unable to do it.

He takes to drawing her more often, sometimes with her weapon – sometimes with Yang, he does little family portraits for them both, and their whole team is really impressed with how good an artist he is. Sun gives the thumbs up – it's going well on his end. RWBY likes SSJN – which means Sun has more excuse to hang around Blake, and his honest attitude and casual wit seems to be slowly breaking its way through her stubborn isolation.

By all means, things should be well – but it's still difficult on Jaune because the more time he spends with Ruby, the deeper he falls in love. And even though he's only 17 – he's been sleeping around, so he has urges. Urges he wants to sate, but could never allow himself to.

Raising the Stakes (beat 4) – In which s*** gets more intimate

Things continue as they do, there's the robot fighting scene – which Team SSJN helps with a little more competently than they did in canon, because hey – men can be okay too! The friendship between Ruby and Jaune gets a little deeper, except that there are now small touches and feelings too.

Ruby is naturally huggy, and Jaune guiltily takes more pleasure than he should from holding her. Similarly when she lets her guard down and shoves a cookie in his mouth, he can't help how his lips touch her fingers, and the chaste kiss he lays there – which she treats as an accident and blushes over.

To make matters even worse, Yang has started to get an inkling about it, though she doesn't say anything to him. Sun and Blake become a little more common figures around this point, and in a way Neptune and Weiss also go out on a date. Theirs is a less troubling relationship, both have an interest and get on when chatting with one another, so they go on a dinner date to see if they mesh.

Jaune confesses to Scarlet his attraction, and Jaune's partner is sympathetic, even if he's unsure what to say. He doesn't blame or hate Jaune for it, and honestly thinks it bad luck – this is a Hunter School, of course he would have assumed she was seventeen. But hey, it's not too big a gap – she will grow up, if he's willing to wait.

Jaune says, much to his own horror, that he thinks he maybe is.

Conflict 2 ( Beat 5 ) – In which s*** gets conflictier

Jaune decides he wants to wait for Ruby, but that such is foolish if she doesn't return his feelings. He realises he needs to tell her how he feels, or give her some kind of sign.

During their next drawing session Jaune tries to drop hints of his feelings. He doesn't want to admit it, somehow thinking if he does that then there won't be any escape… if he shows it, and she shows she doesn't want it – then it's a rejection which he can handle. But if he admits he's falling for her – and she is disgusted… then it's pretty much outed that he likes little girls.

Covert touches, some less-than-veiled compliments. Ruby takes them all with a ref face and little giggles, thinking he is just trying to embarrass her – it's sickeningly sweet, which just makes it worse for Jaune.

Ruby never catches on, and Jaune despairs that she never will. Until a little later into the Arc he takes her on a picnic and while he is trying to tell her how to lay so he can draw her, he loses patience and kisses her.

It's sweet and soft, and Ruby reciprocates happily. Jaune ends it, apologising and saying he shouldn't, but Ruby says she doesn't mind – she liked it. She likes him. When he brings up her age she just sighs and says everyone makes more of it than she does, sixteen is the age of consent in Remnant, she's close enough anyway – and will be sixteen in like two months. Besides, they're not getting married – they're just kissing.

Jaune laughs and kisses her again.

Ruby and Jaune return to her team, and to his horror Ruby just tells them all – and to his shock, they aren't just okay with it – they're pretty much impatient "Geez, finally – took him long enough to grow the balls to ask you out."

It's been obvious to them from the start, and while they were uncomfortable at first – they grew to trust him and they trust Ruby to be an adult. What's a year and a half or so.

Black Moment ( Beat 6 ) – In which s*** goes wrong

The relationship is fractured however when a girl from Vacuo sees one of the pictures that Yang is carrying, that Jaune drew of her and Ruby together. The girl recognises his style, and comments on them having a threesome – which Yang is confused over.

Until the girl explains that Jaune draws all the girls he sleeps with in Vacuo, and that having a picture from him is basically like saying "I bagged Jaune Arc." He's one of the most desired men in Vacuo, and he's used that to his advantage – time and time again.

Yang flies into a rage, and rather than confront Jaune, goes to Ruby. She finds her and Jaune making out, before she demands to know the truth, even as Weiss and Blake followed her to find out themselves. Ruby is distraught at the idea that she'd been played with, and Jaune's attempts to explain are hardly heard.

He receives a black eye from Yang, and a broken heart from Ruby – who is in floods of tears.

Resolution (Beat 7) – In which s*** gets resolved

Jaune is distraught that his reputation has ruined his first real relationship with someone he felt he truly loved. There's some self-pity moments, as all men do, he tries to draw some other things to distract himself – but his art is dead. Just all lifeless and dull. He's lost his lustre.  
What's worse, Sun and Blake fall apart, not because of the issue – but because Sun refuses to hear their insults about Jaune. He's my bro, I'm not putting up with this!

Jaune tries to meet with Ruby, only for Yang to chase him off – with threats of violence and giving him a matching shiner.

Team Sun suggests there are plenty of fish in the sea, but it's Scarlet who disagrees – saying that up until now Jaune's had his fun without too much trouble. But sometimes if you want to go big, you've got to work for it. Jaune asks for advice, but Scarlet just shrugs.

"You're the hotshot artist, you do something."

Jaune is missing from classes the next two days, and Scarlet finds him each night to bring him food. The blonde is at various points across Beacon with an easel and canvass. He rarely talks, only to thank Scarlet for the food and assure him that he is okay – and to stop Sun and Neptune worrying so bad.

The ending is a PoV from Ruby's angle – in which she leaves her room to see a painting leaning against the opposite wall. It's Jaune and Ruby on their first picnic, both smiling and laughing as they eat. Ruby remembers it and feels sad, but hides it before the others wake up.

The next day she wakes up to find another painting, this time of Jaune drawing her – the smile on his face as he watches her filled with love. Again she loves it and keeps it.

The third day she receives a picture of them kissing, which embarrasses her, and yet to her eyes she pays the most attention to their joined hands, which she can see have a strange red string entwined about them, as though linking them together.

The fourth day is different however. A picture of a man alone, sitting against a wall with his knees bunched up and his head in his hands. The background is dead and drab, as though rainy and unfinished.

The fifth she actually receives late at night, as she comes back from training, it is a vista, as realistic as a photograph of the spot they had their picnic at. And it's photo-realistic. She can see a blanket there, and a figure sat on it with his arm held out, as though holding hands with someone, except no one is there. There's also a small word written on the bottom corner.

"Please…"

Ruby picks it up, and instead of going into her room goes to the location in the picture, where she finds Jaune.

Jaune explains himself to her, how he was a bachelor, a player – and how that was never meant to change, but that he grew to love her, honestly love her. And that he made the decision to change for her, except that his past caught up with him. He begs her forgiveness, and going a step further – asks if she will consider marrying him when she's off age.

Ruby is uncertain, but can't deny she still feels for him. She explains her side of the story, the happiness she felt, but also the fear that she was a game to him. He apologises, but not for what he did – but what she felt and feared. Because to him it was never a game and never would be. He loved her for every second of it, even when he tried not to.

Ruby kisses him, and asks if he will finish the last painting for her, because the man in it looks lonely. Jaune lays the canvass down and starts to paint, even as Ruby hovers with her face pressed against his, hand resting on his back. It's a cute scene, more than romantic. Two teens in love.

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C.F.'s Reaction:

Can I start by admitting I'm uncomfortable on the subject matter? Because I'm uncomfortable at the subject matter. I seriously considered not posting this because, yeah. There's a reason I always depict Lancaster as a slightly older Ruby.

But depiction is not endorsement, nothing taboo actually happens, and there's a good lesson from this fill- don't lose track of what your story is about. Let's ignore that Jaune is also a minor , and that a two-year age gap isn't the same as, say, a twelve year one. Rule of thumb for my creep factor is divide by two and add seven, so Lancaster doesn't really bother me as such. I usually get bothered more by teacher-student scenarios. Kids falling in love is what kids do. Mature adults with immature children, not so much.

Coeur's fill is a mix of two different stories, which he hits well enough. My feelings are that the underlying problem of a relationship should generally be consistent. I like themes in stories, and that goes for relationship issues. Either of the issues is 'good' in that they're valid reasons for concern and friction, but the story is built up and sold on the first one. The fact that it's a non-issue for everyone else? It was underplayed.

If you're going to dabble with taboo or uncomfortable topics, you have to commit to the premise. Not necessarily in doing the do (again- depiction is not endorsement), but in directly addressing and using the dynamic. Otherwise it's just wasting the premise, especially if you go with something that's mundane by comparison.

It'd be like, oh, trying to write a Cardin-Velvet romance. Except for instead of Racism, the problem is that Cardin leaves the toilet seat up one time too many.

Again- uncomfortable topic, awkward commentary. But it could be better.

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Coeur's Reflection:

Hoo-boy, where to start?

Maybe by firstly saying I obviously do not condone pedo? Though it's also a small nod to the fact that hey - Ruby is fifteen, pretty much any pairing fic with her is pedo. But this is fiction, and I'm honestly not afraid to explore that in fiction - especially if it's the crux of the story, as I tried to make it here.

I don't think I succeeded.

When making any romance story there is a need for conflict, and I saw two possible routes here, two points that could cause drama and conflict.

a) Ruby's age compared to Jaune  
b) Jaune's past as a play-boy, clashing with Ruby's insecurity issues.

I think I chose the wrong one here, and the story felt a bit meh for it. The thing is that no one seemed to care about it other than Jaune. And that sort of makes sense realistically - I mean she is 15, not 12 - and is also the leader of a team, so her friends probably consider her their age mentally anyway.

But that's not good story conflict.

Anyway it's okay, not a good as some of mine I think, a little rushed perhaps. I wanted cutesy romance and didn't give enough examples of it really. Maybe I should have gone for a darker deeper story, where the romance IS hotter and heavier, and there is a sense of giving in to your sin, on both their ends. Honestly that might have worked better, as even a good ending or a tragic one.

Hell tragedy could have worked well, in which they genuinely love one another - and to them age ISN'T an issue, but because of the rule of law, even the space of a few months causes Jaune to be arrested and sentenced. Though Ruby promises she will wait for him.

A bitter-sweet option there, ah well - I wanted a happy ending.

There's two ways I might have retaken this. I could either have gone for the other clashing concept, or like the above example - gone for a "Us vs the world" kind of story. Wherein Jaune and Ruby's love is pure, but no one else can accept it. Be it their friends or society, everyone is against their love.

So the drama would have been external, rather than internal.

Instead it was before Christmas, and I was rushed - probably one of my weaker fills.

OR... I could have completely AU worlded it, Jaune is a famous artist hunted by the White Fang (because reasons) and RWBY is the team set to defend him. Jaune's desire for freedom and artistic expression clashes with RWBY's desire to protect him. And he also dislikes hunters because he feels they only destroy, when he just wants to create.

Clashes, slow burn romance with Ruby - or Weiss, or any of them really. Big scene where Cinder captures him, and tries to kill the love interest, before Jaune reveals his semblance. The ability to create things through art - which kill Cinder. A semblance he hates, because just like what he tried to never be - it only destroys.


	53. Meet the Arcs

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt- Meet the Arcs -Okay, she could do this... Jaune and her had been dating for ages. Meeting his family wasn't going to be difficult. Just seven sisters... and his mother... and father.

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C.F.'s Fill:

Title: Meet the Family  
Summary: Ruby thought the hard was long over. She'd gotten her team's approval. Her Dad's approval. Yang's approval. She'd even broken through Jaune's obliviousness and gotten his approval, which was kind of important for dating him. So meeting his family should be smooth sailing… right?

It's the senior year of Beacon, the semester before graduation. Jaune and Ruby have been dating for some time, starting some time around/after the Cinder/White Fang crisis of their freshman year. Typical romcom-worthy backstory which they look back and laugh at, including Jaune's obliviousness and the approval of Ruby's team and family. Things are comfortable, and with graduation in the bag and right around the corner, Ruby's started to think about the future and wonder/hope if/how Jaune will be a part of it. Though neither of them have broached the topic, Ruby's thoughts are turning towards marriage.

After far too long away from home, and after they learned of the Lancaster relationship, Jaune and Ruby go to visit Jaune's family over the equivalent of spring break. Jaune is excited, since it's the first time he'll have seen all his family since he ran away from home, and Ruby's excited for her chance to meet and impress his parents. The night before they're to arrive, Jaune and Ruby share a hotel room where the dynamics of their relationship are laid out- very close, but non-intimate. It started by propriety- Ruby was a minor until recently, neither wanted an unplanned pregnancy to ruin their school/graduation plans, the protective inclinations of Team RWBY- and it's kept by habit, and by Jaune not making a move even though they share a bed a cuddle. Despite their time together, and the physical gestures, there's still a certain distance- such as when Jaune gets embarrassed by Ruby shuffles through his packed clothes and finds a small box amongst his small clothes.

While Jaune misses/ignores Ruby's subtle suggestion to have sex, to take their relationship to the next level (and not just in meeting the parents), he is perceptive enough to spot Ruby's unease. Ruby keeps quiet on part of it- not broaching the topic of the future of their relationship post-graduation- but admits to nerves for his family. Jaune reassures her that he's sure they'll be eager to meet his number nine girl- and here's where the other dynamic of their relationship is pointed out. Jaune puts family first, then others- and so with a mother and seven sisters, even his girlfriend is number 9 on his Top Ten list of women. (Tenth is Pyrrha.) It's an old joke, but it emphasizes to Ruby that she's still 'outside,' and wondering how she can get in closer. Ruby's goal is to make a good impression, in hopes that the family's support will help seal the deal with her own relationship with Jaune.

Ruby and Jaune arrive at the Arcs. It's a relatively isolated home in a small town on the frontier. Jaune's family emerge and the parents greet Jaune warmly even as they're more polite and reserved towards Ruby. Jaune introduces his parents and his seven sisters, who are of varying ages- half are older, but half are younger. Jaune introduces them all, and part of the sisters introduction is that they're thematically linked to the seven sins and Jaune's seven Beacon friends: Envy, Avarice, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, and Pride. (They also have thematic ties with Jaune's friends: Ruby, Weiss, Ren, Blake, Nora, Yang, and Pyrrha.) While the sisters are warm for Jaune, unlike the parents they are far cooler and even cold towards Ruby. It quickly becomes clear to Ruby that they're the ones she'll have to win over. An initial family dinner sets out the various dynamics of the sisters.

Pride, the oldest sister (and far older than Jaune), is the Alpha Girl who runs the sisterhood and keeps them in line. Big on the Arcs family pride, and one of Jaune's role models, and a Huntress herself. Lust, the second oldest, is the party-girl, much like Yang's reputation except more proven conquests. Once brought shame for sleeping around on the family name, she's been married multiple times. Avarice is the struggling breadwinner who's trying to keep a well-paying job- and also married, though likely for money rather than love, she's the one who paid for/supported Jaune while he was in school. She's only selfless for family, and is used to and expects exploitation by others, especially those who want to take advantage of the Arc name somehow. Gluttony and Sloth are the underachieving twins. Wrath is a (younger) adolescent who, at the time of the story, is going through her period- though by reputation she's the quietly simmering righteous-anger sort anyway, and tears into Jaune for lying his way to Beacon. And finally there's Envy, the youngest- who doesn't talk much, but takes an instantly competitive tone with Ruby over her favorite Big Bro's attention.

Dinner is challenging, with subtle slights and challenges by the sisters, which Ruby tries to rise above and Jaune comes to her defense by scolding one of the younger ones. Jaune's mother and father are polite, but reserved. When the evening ends, Jaune and Ruby retire- to different rooms. Jaune is dragged away by Envy to his old childhood room and so that the two of them can catch up, while Ruby is given a guest room. It's a massive bed, easily big enough for two, and has far too many mattresses and pillows and blankets.

Ruby can't sleep, and wakes up uncomfortably to walk the house. In a mock-horror style, Ruby wanders into the study, and finds a trophy room that she hadn't seen before. In it are countless weapons, and Ruby is enthralled until she's discovered. It's Jaune's father, who's been polite but not warm to her so far. The weapon collection is his hobby so to speak, and Ruby thinks she's making progress in connecting until she steps foot-in-mouth and uncovers the past behind them when asking if she could try them. Most of them are the weapons of fallen friends and family- an Arc Mausoleum of sorts- but Jaune's Father shows her a separate room with more.

This room has weapons too- broken or damaged. This room is the weapons J.F. has taken from those who hurt his family or broke their hearts- including the weapons of a number of Lust's ex-husbands (and active hunters). J.F. and Ruby have a frank exchange bordering on threatening. J.F. can tell Ruby wants something more with Jaune. But Jaune's Top Ten means that Jaune will put his family first before anyone else, even Ruby- and if anyone above her on the Top Ten says 'no' he will break up with her, even if it breaks his heart. And if Jaune's heart is broken by a girl who wasn't good enough for the family… J.F. shows an empty plague, just right for Crescent Rose.

The terms and conditions are set. Ruby has the week of vacation to try and win over the family, particularly the sisters, to get their approval for her relationship with Jaune. Ruby returns to her bed and resolves to do her best… if she can get to sleep in the over-stuffed and empty bed. When Jaune greets her in the morning, it's too a sleep-deprived but optimistic Ruby ready to spend time with his family.

This is the main plot, with Ruby spending time with the sisters and trying to appeal to them. Some are harder than others, but for the most part Ruby makes success. The primary pacing is that each day begins with a morning breakfast and plans, the day's events, and the evening dinner which shows progress (or lack thereof). In general order…

Pride's dynamic is whether Ruby is 'worthy' to be an Arc- but also why Ruby likes/liked Jaune when he wasn't strong. Ruby proves her strength in a training match, and tells how she first started falling for Jaune (or at least respecting him deeply) when he was brave enough to wear the dress at the ball. It was the start of what would turn into her attraction. Ruby justifies letting Jaune stay in Beacon because of his desire to live up to the family, and how it related to her own pride in her mother Summer Rose. Pride is satisfied, and gives Ruby a pass- though a lingering question is who would be giving up their name and family pride if they got married.

Sloth and Gluttony, twins with elements of Nora and Blake, are easy enough to win over. Ruby stirs Sloth's interest with fairy tales and tales of Jaune and her at Beacon, and by sharing a couch-nap with Jaune as their shoulder pillow. A shared joy of cookies and family meals wins Gluttony. These two are 'won' with promises in which the girls give their approval via their word, which are a running theme of the Arcs. Sloth's promise requires Ruby to not leave Jaune behind, but to slow down and enjoy life with him rather than just racing to adventure. Gluttony's promise entails sharing: that Ruby share her delicious cookies, and Jaune, with the rest of the family. (For reference- Pride's promise was that Ruby and Jaune both hold their head high in their relationship, never ashamed.)

Lust and Avarice are a two-fer tied-into each other over two days. Though they don't get along, they both are protective for Jaune when it comes to romance. Lust is to Jaune what Yang is to Ruby- affectionate and over-protective- while Avarice is acerbic like Weiss, and taking worldy concerns into account. Both think that Jaune is just being taken advantage by Ruby, that's she's the first to show interest and hook him. Avarice suspects Ruby is interested in the Arc name as a source of leverage/gain- especially when Ruby's interest in the weapon collection is revealed. Lust is afraid that Ruby will do unto Jaune what her ex-husbands did unto her- boast about bedding an Arc, and then leave.

Avarice is the easier to defuse- Ruby's ignorance of the Arc name and legacy, and a call-in to Weiss over-night offers a SDC job-opportunity for the struggling Avarice. Avarice is thematically about 'responsibility' and 'mutual benefit'- by showing that she wouldn't be simply leaching off him, but contributing on her own and even bringing benefit to the Arcs, Ruby wins approval. Ruby's a bit uncomfortable at how unromantic it is, but in a moment of bonding and Weiss-echoeing, Avarice shares her own past and marriage, and how despite how mercantile it is it's also genuine. Avarice's marriage, rather than a dashing romance of adventure, was with someone who showed how much he cared for her by helping her support what she cared about most. Avarice touches on the Top Ten list, and how being number nine on the list (ten if you count the father) doesn't mean Jaune doesn't care.

Lust is a bit trickier over the first few days, and the most hostile of the 'older' sisters. At times it's played for comedy- on the first night, threats of castration are made if Ruby touches sneaks into Jaune's room and tries anything that might 'corrupt' the younger sisters. Ruby gets a call to Yang bringing up the rom-com past with Jaune, with Ruby expressing how she didn't think you can do that to women and horrified that Yang ever threatened it to Jaune. Lust plays intrusive chaperone, and interferes with Ruby's efforts to be close and alone with Jaune- despite her own referred to wild-girl party past.

On the darker side, Lust has as much seriousness beneath the façade as Yang. Maybe more- touching on the difficulty of hunter marriages and why the relationships are unstable. The death of one pair, the distance, and the prime opportunity for cheating when separated by long missions. Or just the superficial- grievous injuries and maiming, and the relationships that can be broken by them. It's not a game and not something to just be teenage hormones- and recognizing it is how Ruby wins approval, through her own past with Summer and how her opinion and attraction of Jaune has endured all the non-sexy things, like the first encounter with Vomit Boy. Ruby's maturity- and the revelation that Jaune and Ruby are both still virgins- is what wins Lust over. Lust goes from 'Ruby's a hussy' to 'chaste romance is so sweet,' and the older sisters are at last won over.

This is more or less the first half- the first three days, and five of the seven good. But the last two are the stickers, and transition the romantic comedy to the darker phase. Through her progress, Ruby's been doing well, but had her time with Jaune stolen. She's also been pranked or suffered 'accidents' along the lines of her early bed experience, so she's getting a bit stressed and tense even as she's making progress. Brief moments with Jaune encourage her for the last two, but hardest, sisters: the little sisters Wrath and Envy, who seem particularly set on disliking Ruby. Both put Jaune as a pedestal before he left, and both were the most hurt by his departure and don't want to 'lose' him again.

Wrath's is a quiet teen with strong opinions on what's wrong and right, and there's a definite cloud between her and Jaune over Jaune's deception into Beacon. Since Ruby knew it, and didn't expose Jaune and send him home, Wrath doesn't like it- especially on top of Ruby's other well-intentioned rule breaking. Wrath is a lawful-good sort of girl, with an emphasis on 'lawful'. Even some of the elements Ruby's done to win the sisters over to date- the call to Weiss for Avarice, the bribes of cookies, the might-makes-respect winning of Pride- tick Wrath the wrong way, amounting to corruption and deceit. Wrath knows Ruby is trying to win her over, and rebels against it.

Envy, on the other hand… well, it's in the name. Envy is just shy of a bro-con, and was one when she was younger before Jaune left, and intends to make up for lost time now. Guilt-tripping Jaune over how he ran away, and so on, she shares with his sisters but openly excludes Ruby, and refuses to talk to her. Jaune is apologetic, but goes along with it while Ruby is busy with the other sisters. When Ruby runs into the wall with Wrath and tries to make progress with Envy as well, she's shot down despite her outreach. Envy's a bit of a brat, and declares that she's Jaune's Number 1 girl, more loved than even Mom- and she makes clear she has no intention of letting Ruby have Jaune.

It's a frustrating day of failure, and time's running out. Ruby is stressed, and can't find time with Jaune because he's talking with his parents, holding the box he'd hidden from her earlier. Ruby overhears Jaune's mother talking about her to Jaune in skeptical terms, and makes an indirect reference to the Father's conditions of getting accepted by the family if Jaune or Ruby want her approval. Ruby is faced with the prospect of her relationship with Jaune being vetoed, with an upcoming storm system promising the perfect atmosphere to end the trip.

A breakthrough occurs with Wrath by means of a precious hour or three with Jaune. Jaune explains how both sisters put him on a pedestal before he left- and while Envy is just glad to have him back, Wrath felt betrayed because he'd failed a promise to watch her do something- a play or some such like Romeo and Juliette- when he ran away to Beacon. It's the one promise to her he's failed, and he regrets it. Ruby's able to help Jaune and Wrath reconcile when she (with the rest of the sisters) are able to recreate the conditions so that the promise can be fulfilled. With Ruby playing a key role- the Robeo to Wrath's Juliette- Ruby breaks through. With a touching big-girl/little-girl mentorship on integrity, and how even liars can keep their promises, Wrath forgives Jaune and gives her approval. Wrath also admits to having sabotaged Ruby's bed earlier, trying to sabotage her chances.

This sets Envy off- the two girls had promised to band together to reject Ruby- and Wrath's forgiveness is as much a betrayal to Envy as Jaune's abandonment. Shouting her intention to never let Ruby surpass her, Envy runs off into the dangerous woods, and the family has to muster to search for her. Ruby, despite terrible sleep from Wrath's bed sabotage, musters herself to help in the search.

Ruby finds Envy in a stream that serves as Envy's secret hiding place, and faces a dilemma when Grimm are nearby. Tired and stressed as she is, Ruby can't stop the thought that if Envy just so happened to suffer an accident- a terrible one that just so happened to clear the last veto keeping Ruby from Jaune, who'd no doubt need comfort in his grief…

Ruby pauses far longer than she should, tired and stressed, but does the right thing and carries Envy back. Despite the rescue, Envy states that she's still not changing her mind and approving. Ruby knows, unhappy as it is, and the two return in silence. Jaune rushes to Ruby and Envy, and as he worries over her Ruby recognizes and accepts that Envy really is Jaune's favorite sister. Even Jaune embracing and thanking her profusely doesn't cheer her, nor does the gratitude of the rest of the family, and Ruby retires to a poor night's sleep.

Saturday, the second to last day, is long and hard because while Ruby wakes up knowing it's hopeless, Jaune is determined to use the day to bring Ruby and Envy together. Using Ruby's rescue as the leverage to get her included, Ruby goes along with the sibling make-up-time day feeling like a third wheel. Envy's still bratty, even if less so, but there's a passive-aggressive tension between her and Ruby as the pre-teen competes for Jaune's attention. The day's a mess, the incoming storm closing things left and right, and Envy comes off the worse for it- enough so that Jaune calls her out for her conduct towards Ruby and shames her. With the stormclouds pending, Jaune gets called away to help the town prepare to weather the storm, and Ruby and Envy finally have their long-pending fight.

Ruby, stressed all week long, finally snaps and calls Envy a selfish brat even as she effectively concedes defeat. Ruby affirms her love for Jaune- but also recognizes that Jaune dotes on Envy like no one else, not even her. Venting/ranting about how the marriage is ruined before it could start, Ruby spells out what Envy's obstinance is going to do- not just to Ruby, or Crescent Rose, but also to Jaune. Jaune might love Envy as a sister, but he only loves her as a sister- and he loves Ruby as more than that. Even if he'll put family first, no matter how much it hurts him. His heart might break if the family vetoes the relationship… but Ruby will make damn well sure Jaune knows who's to blame for that veto. See who's the favorite sister after that, why don't you. To pound it in, Ruby lists the contrasts between them- including maturity and bravery and helping others rather than being selfish and wanting Jaune solely for one's self. They could have been sisters if she and Jaune married- and if Lancaster is sunk, so will the brother-sister bond between Jaune and Envy. It's cruel, spiteful, and deliberately hurtful- and Ruby regrets it somewhat as she walks away, leaving Envy behind. Despite her words, she doesn't really intend to tell Jaune who in the family wouldn't approve of her- even as she begins to wonder how she can/should break it to him when she breaks up with him.

Imminent heartbreak is delayed when the storm cell moves in. Jaune, Ruby, and the older Arcs are all involved in helping storm relief while the younger ones are kept safe. But Envy, needled by Ruby's words of bravery and selfishness, sneaks out to try and help on her own, putting her at risk. Long events short, Jaune and Envy are both in danger of a flooding creek, with Ruby only able to save one of them with a damaged crescent rose. Jaune begs Ruby to save Envy- and Envy begs Ruby to save Jaune- and to Envy's horror Ruby saves Envy just before Jaune is washed away down a flooded stream. Ruby chases him with her semblance, damaging Crescent Rose in her efforts to save him, but all she can get is final words when she has a weak and fading grip on him. Declarations of love, regret of missed opportunities, and a promise never to hesitate again before Jaune slips away. Jaune disappears, and can't be found because it's so dark outside. It's a dark ending to the final evening at the Arcs, and Ruby falls to sleep to Jaune's final words.

It's Sunday morning, the final day, and Ruby awakes to an almost empty house. The only one is Envy, who explains that everyone else is looking for Jaune's body. Envy breaks down, while Ruby still can't quite believe it, and despite her animosity Ruby comforts her while Envy unloads. Envy's a brat, but not a malicious one- she was just afraid of losing her brother once more, and her spot as favorite sister. There's a black comedy here- Envy is/was too young to understand marriage, and thought 'sister-in-law' meant Ruby was being adopted. It's here that in the reach-back, all of Envy's objections/hostilities are in terms of Ruby 'becoming part of the family' rather than referring to marriage, and Envy's jealousy was in terms of 'favorite sister,' not 'Jaune has a girlfriend.' She was still a brat, and still jealous… and it got Jaune- she regrets that Ruby saved a selfish girl, instead of letting Jaune be with a good woman.

Ruby interrupts her, saying how they aren't so different. She was envious of how much Jaune was doting on his family, and Envy, and not her. And she wasn't as mature as she'd have liked to be during their confrontation. And she definitely wasn't always a good woman at heart- or at least no more than Envy is purely selfish. Ruby points out that Envy put Jaune above herself- and that it was Ruby who made the choice, and a selfish one at that.

Envy asks why, how, considering that Ruby chose Envy over being with Jaune, and Ruby makes a difficult argument about the selfishness of love. She loved Jaune, so she did what Jaune wanted- to save Envy- because of Jaune. It's the paradoxical selflessness of selfishness of love. Putting together elements from all the other sisters she's come to terms with, Ruby makes the case of why she loved Jaune- of his family pride (pride), of his way of standing up for others and keeping his word (wrath)- and why she was serious about commitment- of spending the time living a genuine life with him (sloth and gluttony) and helping his family in turn (avarice) and commitment (lust). But most of all, she wanted for herself and her future family what Envy wanted to keep for her own- and both girls reconcile and regret that they hadn't shared. Even if it's too late, Envy gives her belated blessing for Ruby, claiming greed in wanting a sister like her.

It's about here that the drama makes way for Jaune making his presence known, by saying it could still happen. He survived- and Ruby and Envy race to him, berating and hitting him for making them think otherwise and not coming back sooner, even if it meant interrupting their moment. Jaune apologizes because he had good reasons- and not just because he knew they'd get along if he left them alone. He was washed very far away, and had lost something important that he had to look for. Ruby and Envy are confused- thinking of Crocea Mors- but Jaune kneels.

Referencing his promise to never hesitate and miss an opportunity again, Jaune pulls out the box Ruby had seen twice before. Behind him all the other sisters are watching with smiles, and even Father and Mother are watching with approval as he opens the box.

Flash forward to the epilogue as Ruby and Jaune are on an automated airship back towards Beacon.

Ruby and Jaune are in good cheer- well, Ruby is in very good cheer while Jaune is suffering airsickness- as Ruby recounts what happened, still giddy in disbelief. Jaune actually posed the question to Envy in terms of 'Envy, would you give me away to marry Ruby Rose', to which Envy gave a 'yes' as happy as if she'd been the one proposed. Only then did Jaune ask Ruby, as all the family watched. Ruby's laughing at it- and asks what Jaune would have done if Envy had said 'no.'

Jaune laughs, and undercuts most of the tension of the plot, by saying he'd have asked Ruby to marry him regardless. Yes, he wanted to talk to his parents before proposing, but he'd been intending to for some time- even had Ren help pick out the ring, which is why he searched so long for it. Even if Weiss or Avarice could afford a dozen of them. Going along with the 'veto' charade- mostly by pretending he wasn't aware of it- was the 'price' he paid for running away to Beacon years ago.

Ruby is taken aback- what about the Top Ten?- and Jaune laughs that she worried that much about it. Yeah, Jaune will put family first- but family doesn't get to pick family. Or rather, there's only one person you can choose to be family, and for Jaune that's Ruby. Once they were family then naturally Ruby would shoot to the top of the Top Ten. Envy can keep her spot as Number 1 sister, even if she's a really a number 2. Jaune teases Ruby for believing in the veto that his family invented to test and scare her- if Jaune couldn't marry who he wanted, how did Ruby think Lust got married all those times? Ruby laughs it off, and makes a reference to the plaque with Crescent Rose's name on it.

Even so, Ruby succeeded, just like Jaune knew she would, and the two turn their minds for the wedding- which they intend to aim for right at graduation. Jaune family and sisters seem dead set on planning it- with Envy the most enthusiastic flower girl- but Ruby counters that they'll have stiff competition from Weiss and RWBY/JNPR. There's a bit of reflection on envy- not just the character, but how jealousy and selfishness and how it factored in the story- but Jaune and Ruby conclude that the real theme of marriage was sharing family, not losing it. Envy was ultimately willing to lose a brother- but Ruby vows that Envy is really getting two sisters, herself and Yang. With some light-hearted thoughts on how Yang will mix-in, Ruby and Jaune hold hands and thumb each others rings.

Suddenly, disaster! The bullhead's in flames! Or at least there are flames, and it's losing altitude as warning sirens go off. Ruby and Jaune prepare their landing strategies, even as they half-heartedly moan about missing a few more days of Beacon until they're rescued. Confident enough in survival, Ruby starts to muse about how it'll be reported now that they're engaged- will this be how Team RWBY learns he popped the question?- and play-acts that they'll be lost forever.

Emboldened by the heat even as they prepare to jump, Ruby kisses Jaune and suggests to Jaune that if they're going to be missing as married, they might as well live like they're married once they land, openly insinuating about sex after they land. Jaune's taken aback- why not wait for the wedding in a few months since they're this close? Ruby playfully considers it- quaint and charming in its own way, true- but also brings up his promise about missing opportunities. Why not take advantage of the next few days as an early honeymoon, since his family all but gave him away at the altar already?

With another kiss, Ruby invites Jaune to follow her and see how it plays out before jumping from the Bullhead. Jaune jumps with exceptional haste.

End.

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Coeur's Impression:

Here's an example of a story that is structured and planned well, has good ideas, a solid theme - and a nice moral to the ending...

That I would stop reading very quickly.

The story is perfectly laid out, everything is explored, Ruby grows as a person - other people grow too, and yet still I would put this down, with a foul taste in my mouth - because what i came away from this thinking is one simple thing.

Jaune Arc doesn't love Ruby Rose.

And that is something any fic with a romantic plot or subplot needs, love - emotional dependency, even in the most base and cruel of romantic fics, such as my Neo Stockholme one, you could argue it wasn't love, but they relied on one another nonetheless.

I didn't get that vibe here, and it made reading this awkward, and hell - it even left me worrying for CF a little; do you need someone to talk to? I'm here if you do... in the same way that some "Power Fantasy" fics smack of authors who have no idea what romance or flirting actually is - this felt like CF isn't fully sure on what a loving relationship between equals really is.

And I don't mean that as an attack, let's go into some details.

"While Jaune misses/ignores Ruby's subtle to have sex, to take their relationship to the next level" - Now I know CF is awkward on intimacy with Ruby in fics due to her age, but to some degree this already set alarm bells going in my mind. Not that Ruby hasn't been shagged, that doesn't matter - but that she feels the need to try and secure things before she goes to visit his family. Sometimes sex is used as a desperation thing, or even a bribe by women. Don't leave me, I'll do anything. But it was only enough to concern me, until the next bit.

"they'll be eager to meet his number nine girl" - Wow... that is not only cruel, but dare I say also an attack on Ruby. Let's be frank here - I get CF's angle, the goal to paint the Arc family as loving, and Jaune as someone who is deeply loyal to them, etc... I get that. but even if it was true - and let's be honest, I have friends I would abandon to die if others were in trouble, we all play favourites.

But you wouldn't tell them! Jaune's saying it out loud to Ruby is something he full well KNOWS will hurt her, but it also acts as a reminder of her place. It's like each time he says it, he is reminding her. "Know your place Ruby." I hear each and every time, and it stings. I love my family, really I do - and they don't like the woman I love, never have done. And I told them exactly where they could stuff it, because I'm sorry - romantic love does trump familial in most cases. It's evolution, genetics and also emotions...

To call your fiance your number nine girl... it feels like mind games designed to keep her down, something commonly used by controlling partners in abusive relationships. And it only serves to reinforce my earlier concern about Ruby trying to push for intimacy ahead of meeting his family.

"Ruby's goal is to make a good impression, in hopes that the family's support will help seal the deal with her own relationship with Jaune." - Why should Ruby have to hope this? Are they not partners of an equal level in this relationship? Sure you can construe some of it to Ruby's nerves - that she perceives this when it isn't true - but as an emotional anchor, Jaune should be doing what he can to tell her such isn't necessary. And the fact that noy only does he NOT - but he makes it worse by ranking her... that's not right.

"J.F. and Ruby have a frank exchange bordering on threatening. J.F. can tell Ruby wants something more with Jaune. But Jaune's Top Ten means that Jaune will put his family first before anyone else, even Ruby- and if anyone above her on the Top Ten says 'no' he will break up with her, even if it breaks his heart. And if Jaune's heart is broken by a girl who wasn't good enough for the family… J.F. shows an empty plague, just right for Crescent Rose."

This is more cruelty, an attack on Ruby by Jaune's father that not only drives home that Ruby is considered somehow LESS than his sisters - not equal love, LESS. But also then finishes by directly threatening her, a girl much younger and weaker than he is. Jaune can be forgiven for not flying into a f*** RAGE - like I would if my love was threatened by my family like that, but he can't be forgiven for not being there to support Ruby. Similarly, while Jaune has a technical excuse for not being there for her when he is dragged off by envy - it is his job as the host to guide her, and yet again he shows that he's willing to leave Ruby alone in territory he KNOWS she is uncomfortable in, with a family he has shown he KNOWS is cold to her - just to play with his sister. Good boyfriend Jaune, just throw her to the wolves when she needs you - very loving.

The early arc of the sisters seems okay, though again the suggestion that not only does Ruby NEED to do this, but that Jaune - the one who wants her to spend the rest of her life with him, does nothing to help. But then we reach the end of the older sisters.

"Through her progress, Ruby's been doing well, but had her time with Jaune stolen. She's also been pranked or suffered 'accidents' along the lines of her early bed experience" - So again, Ruby is facing abuse from the family, physical as well as mental. Jaune does nothing to step in or help apparently, and even if CF were to write little "telling off moments" it wouldn't make a difference unless Jaune proves his intent, by stepping in and STOPPING it - which won't happen, as CF wants to keep it for the plot. So again, another case of Jaune not showing the same concern for Ruby, that she does for him.

Jaune is apologetic, but goes along with it while Ruby is busy with the other sisters. - Why Jaune... that's just disgusting, and if I wouldn't have already stopped earlier - this would be the end for me.

Envy's a bit of a brat, and declares that she's Jaune's Number 1 girl, more loved than even Mom- and she makes clear she has no intention of letting Ruby have Jaune. - This... the whole dynamic of envy... it's fine in how she is portrayed, but the issue is that jaune never does anything to stop or solve it, when it is HIS and only his responsibility. Ruby shouldn't be in a situation where she feels she has to do this, and the whole "H***, Jaune is getting a ring in the background" thing just doesn't do enough for me.

"Jaune rushes to Ruby and Envy, and as he worries over her Ruby recognizes and accepts that Envy really is Jaune's favorite sister" - I can forgive this as Jaune recognising that Ruby can look after herself, and so doesn't need the same level as concern as his young sister, so that's fine.

And the ending...

"Going along with the 'veto' charade- mostly by pretending he wasn't aware of it- was the 'price' he paid for running away to Beacon years ago."

Could be seen as cute - but to me, I wanted to kick Jaune in the head. if I were Ruby, that would be the point I throw the ring to the floor and tell him it's over. Because he put me through such pain, such stress and tension... fear, heartbreak.

For a charade. He knew the entire time, all the little "maybe he could be forgiven" moments are gone - because now we have definitive proof that he f*** KNEW.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Ouch.

I was intending from the start for the Arcs to be flawed and a bit hard on Ruby. I even intended for Jaune to not be above reproach. But I never intended for his feelings or sentiment to be called into question. There's always going to be times when you misjudge and mis-aim, and going by Coeur's extremely passionate reaction, this was one of mine. Oops.

Sorta. There are points that I can freely agree with Coeur, but there are points I disagree.

In terms of agreement- yes, the family is a bit abusive. I'd go with 'hazing' myself. The whole Ruby in the weapon room was intended as a sort of reverse shotgun-daddy scene. And Jaune's definitely a bit separated from Ruby- the intent was that the sense of isolation would be a bit of Jaune and a bit of Ruby- Ruby not wanting to raise problems, and Jaune standing back to let his family judge Ruby, confident that Ruby would impress them all. I can see how it comes off the worse for it- and I do agree with Coeur that Jaune should have been supportive. Jaune's feelings shouldn't be in question, but in retrospect they clearly could be. Totally own that one- especially since the 'he knew' was an extremely poor addition that I regretted as soon as I posted. That was the biggest own-goal I fouled up on. I just thought 'Jaune not knowing' would be worse, when it, well... let's just say, I don't approve of hazing in general, let alone subjecting your significant other to it.

Something I disagree with Coeur about, however, is the balance between family and love- the whole 'girl number nine' metaphor. Coeur's of a very strong opinion that love comes first. I'm of the opposite. When people try to make an either-or between themselves and my family, they lose. It doesn't mean I don't care about other people- but rather that, until they become family (ie, marry in), family still comes first. Once they are family as well, then sure- they can go to the top of the list. But the fact that they won't until they're family is the proof that they will be first to me when they are family- it's the proof of that conviction. And yes, I consider myself quite capable of having a sincere and healthy emotional relationship, thank you very much.

The key here- and a theme/idea that I'll admit wasn't articulated well because the acceptance/winning approval plot would seem contrary- is that _family doesn't choose family._ Or rather, that there's one sort of family you choose- your spouse- and everyone else is someone you either have to accept or deal. The idea that the List meant that anyone higher could veto Ruby was just an assumption fed by insecurity. Family doesn't get to veto family, or (in my preferred cultures) +who comes into it.

Just because family is important doesn't they dictate who becomes a part of it. A child doesn't have a choice over if they get a new sibling. A sibling doesn't get a veto over a sister-in-law. Parents don't pick-and-choose children, let alone grandchildren. Family can have influence, but it doesn't control someone's choice- and there should never have been an objective reason to think Jaune wouldn't choose Ruby just because his family doesn't unanimously agree. Ruby might think so, but Ruby's the weak link there.

The crux of the story's drama is Ruby's insecurity. It comes with different sorts of expectations, and Ruby's assumptions getting the best of her. If Ruby hadn't worried, she would have soon learned there was nothing to worry about. The only way for her to 'lose' would have been to give up.

Take the start. Ruby wanting sex to 'cinch' the relationship is based on a common viewpoint of relationships- that sex is an indication of involvement and commitment. Coeur in particular has expressed a belief that a normal/healthy relationship will have sex, and that's the sort of viewpoint I went with with Ruby. Ruby and Jaune are in a serious relationship that isn't serious- ergo it isn't normal, and possibly not as involved or committed as Ruby would like. Ruby's mind is turning towards the future, and wants to resolve whether Jaune will be a part of it or not. They aren't having sex, so Jaune's commitment is questionable, and so the approval/blessing of the family seems to be path to secure their future together.

That's a reasonable, rational perspective, and one that gives Ruby some cause to worry- and thus, an pre-inclination to believe the family's bluff and pressure on her. To start projecting her own fears, whether or not Jaune has actually said anything to that point, and believe them at face value.

Now here's a perspective closer to how I was brought up.

 _Abstinence until marriage_ is the greatest sign of commitment. Sleeping around is treating sex lightly, but waiting for marriage is showing that you consider someone that important, and that exclusive. Not only that you consider them worth waiting for, but that you respect them. By extension, showing respect is not just to them, but to their families- to show respect, convince them that you care for the person, and that you're worthy of them so that you can get their blessing. Going through those steps- whether they ultimately approve or not- demonstrates to the partner you not only respect them, but their families, and that's how committed you are. That's when you tie the knot and cinche things.

Does Jaune ever explain that to Ruby? No, not really. Does Ruby ever ask? Also not really. She keeps her concerns to herself, rather than raise them. Which is why Ruby is concerned, and Jaune isn't worried, because they're approaching the same things from different perspectives.

It's a different approach to a committed relationship- and not an abusive one either.

So I strongly disagree with Coeur that Jaune didn't love Ruby (and not just authorial intent), or that he was being abusive (even on the 'family first' theme), or that he was being manipulative (and certainly nowhere near Manipulator Ren). But I'll freely agree and admit that the relationship should have been better, because the fact that Coeur could plausibly have those concerns is a concern in and of itself. Jaune could have been more supportive over the week (I threw in some points, but apparently didn't emphasize them enough), and should have reacted poorly against the sister's abuse earlier (rather than towards the end with Envy). And Ruby should have had a better, clearer reason for not being open with Jaune about her struggles. Insecurity is one thing, but a better motive for silence would have helped.

Fortunately, Coeur and I spent some good-spirited exchanges trying to think of how that could have worked. As you can tell, this isn't just one of C.F.'s big fills- there were big thoughts between us.

You can look forward to this as part of Re-do week- it's my intent to use this as the example of how to improve a flawed story and outline. Coeur won't like that the List will still be there, but we'll see how different version 2.0 is.

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	54. Game Plays You

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's (self) Prompt: Deconstructing the Gamer Crossovers - AKA - Why not all OP semblances are good for you.

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Title: The Games We Don't Want To Play

Summary: Becoming the Gamer was a dream come true for Jaune, but for there to be a Gamer there must be a Game, and sometimes Games can have terrible consequences.  
Genre: PURE HORROR – My first foray into horror.

Arc 1 – Jaune becomes the Gamer back home before Beacon, and is thrilled with his discovery. So begins a few simple chapters of Jaune going through the typical Gamer things. He earns levels, tailors his stats and goes through the relatively simple quests the Game offers him. They seem to be getting more difficult each time, but it's hardly a big deal.

Things go wrong however when he gets a Quest to save his sister from a hostage situation – which horrifies him as he rushes to do so. He comes across his sister held by a man at a supermarket, both his sister and the man look terrified.

Jaune tries to stop the man, only to be held back when the man threatens to shoot her. Knowing he won't be fast enough to reach her in time – no one would be – he does the only thing he can think to do; talk the man down, as the Quest tells him to.  
Charisma Check Failed.

Jaune didn't put any points into Charisma, it never seemed necessary to becoming a Hunter, and his sister is executed for it. He stands there in horror as blood splashes across his face, as Police and Hunters open fire to kill the criminal and try to resuscitate her, to no avail.

Jaune is near catatonic as his family bands together to handle the grief. The killer was a normal man with a family, who had no motive or reason for his actions. Another odd thing is that his sister had no plans to be there, and didn't even take her purse to the supermarket. His family doesn't understand, but Jaune does.

His sister didn't intend to be there, she was brought there by the Game. By him pushing ahead in Quests to the point that the "story" progressed when he wasn't ready. But also by him putting all his points into purely combat stats.

When Jaune's next quest tells him to attend Beacon, he dare not refuse.

Arc 2 –

Jaune gains entry to Beacon through his own merit, smashing his way through Ozpin's tests through sheer stats rather than any skill. He is tense and focused, to the point that Ozpin brings him aside to test his mental stability – admitting that he knows about what happened to his sister. Ozpin frankly admits he fears Jaune will snap under the pressure, or give in to dark thoughts of revenge. Jaune says he won't, though Ozpin makes it clear he will be watching.

Come initiation things are in some ways the same, in others different. Helping Ruby is a Quest, and as much as he hates that he follows it – scared of what might happen if he doesn't. This initially damages the friendship however, as Jaune fears/suspects the Game – and that Ruby is "associated" with it makes it hard for him to trust her. This is resolved later, as their friendship evolves more naturally – but for now is a sticking point.

Jaune interacts with no one in initiation, keeping to himself, which only makes him look lonely – prompts Ruby and Yang to try and involve him, and ironically leads to him being insulted by Weiss – literally echoing Canon (which for astute readers would be a hint that the Game isn't letting him ignore things, it's altering events to force him on the same path).

Initiation is passed – Jaune gets Pyrrha as per usual, since Weiss still finds him first but due to her insulting him, she chooses Ruby over him ala canon.

Jaune is made leader despite, and perhaps because of, Ozpin's suspicions.

Arc 3 –

Early Beacon life mixed with the Game. Jaune hates the Gamer semblance and tries to do his best to ignore it, however at Beacon quests become an almost daily event – with bigger ones happening on a less-frequent basis. At first he tries to ignore the little quests, such as "Fight the Boarbatusk in Port's lesson" – but each time he does there are negative consequences of Quest Failure.

He refuses to fight to Boarbatusk, so Weiss does – leading to a fight between Weiss and Ruby, which he receives a Quest to fix. When he refuses to do so, and only offers a few comforting words to Ruby – he ironically finds that's all that was needed, prompting Ruby to fix it herself, and earning him another wad of Exp regardless of his reluctance.

Another Quest he refuses is to help Velvet, something which gnaws at him because he wants to help her – but wants to spite the Game. The failure being that Velvet is tormented. Jaune gains a few levels due to training, but takes the unusual approach of refusing to allocate any points, so he remains say at the skill of a lvl 5 for instance, despite being lvl 10.

The reasons are shown why a chapter or so later when one of the Random Event Quests happens – when his team are out in Vale. An REQ tells him to "Save the Girl (Dex)" – and as he looks around in horror he literally sees a young girl spontaneously pull away from her mother and run out into the road – a terrified expression on the girl's face, as though she can't control her actions.

Jaune slams open his menu and assigns every single point he has to dex, before rushing into traffic – narrowly saving her. He gains two levels and a shiny Quest Complete menu, despite his promises to not play the Game.

He realises what has happened. By refusing to play the Game, it's been slowly upping the ante – if he can ignore people being bullied, then it's given him harsher stimuli. To the point where the Game tried to murder a young girl to force him into action.

And it worked.

Jaune muses that he isn't playing the Game, it's playing him – and more than that, it's playing with the lives of everyone around him.

Arc 3 draws to a close with the bullying Cardin Arc, and Jaune settling in to completing quests out of fear of another little girl incident happening again. As he gains levels he continues to save the points, not wanting another repeat of his sister, where it requires a stat he hasn't upgraded. He saves stat points so that when a Quest he dare not fail appears, he can boost the required stat.

This leaves him weak and unbalanced in combat. One day he can be weak and fast, another day he is twice as physically strong – it's hard to adjust and each time he "allocates" a bulk amount of stats – he has a full day of seeming like a clumsy fool.

Forever Fall is a grim Quest however, in which he fails the Quest to save Cardin, leaving the young boy to die in a harrowing scene where Cardin could obviously flee, but finds himself rooted to the floor. And no matter what Jaune tries, the Ursa won't die – as though it's locked into a cut scene he can't interact with.

As soon as Cardin is cut down, the wounds Jaune caused the Ursa kill it. Instantly… It's clear the Game kept it alive as a Quest Failure consequence. Jaune's team comforts him for his failure, but it only makes him feel more alone, because they can't understand that it IS his fault.

Arc 4 –

An initially peaceful Arc of Jaune and his team recovering from the trauma of Forever Fall. There are more small Quests, and Jaune completes them all sadly, unsure what he is supposed to do. The others are convinced he still blames himself and try to cheer him up – with Ren trying to say it isn't his fault.

"The world doesn't revolve around you Jaune, you're not responsible for everything."  
"That's the thing Ren… I'm beginning to think it does."

Jaune begins to show signs of PTSD, though it isn't explained as such – he shows symptoms, and it's up to the reader to figure it out. During that time his team suggests ways to calm him down, and in the end Jaune tries to go along with them, not wanting to worry his friends.

A bright spark in the darkness occurs when he decides to maybe try out one of his other dreams – dating. He's more confident in himself now, and asks Velvet out – surprised when she says yes. Though the flashing words "Charisma Check Success" in his mind do worry him for a bit. The relationship is budding but successful, he meets her team briefly – and Velvet seems to really love him.

The docks incident with Blake happens around this time and although RWBY doesn't come to JNPR for help, Jaune finds out about it through a Quest chain about the White Fang. It basically spoilers everything by literally calling Blake a faunus and ex-White Fang, but he's cynical enough not to care at this point.

With the Quest relating to team RWBY he dare not ignore it, and does all he can to complete it. It takes a day or two, but long-story short it mirrors their journey and leads to Jaune being at the docks when events conspire to cause the fight.

Jaune becomes concerned however at how badly Team RWBY is losing the fight, they are multiple levels lower than the White Fang – who despite having no Hunter training, seem somehow unusually resilient. Jaune realises that their levels are about five higher than Rwby – conspicuously the exact amount that his own level is higher.

Level-Scaling, he realises. The Game has introduced level scaling to make sure his opponents remain the same as him, and it's going to cost his friends their lives. The Quest tells him to stop Torchwick but he ignores it and instead fights with Blake, Ruby and Penny – the four of them defeating the White Fang as Roman escapes.

Jaune's Quest Failure Notice simply says "Consequences" – which he knows won't be something to look forward to.

Arc 5 –

A few more chapters of development occur, and Jaune's condition worsens – even as his friends continue to offer their support. Velvet is loving, but Jaune is worried that being with him will place her at risk, and his reluctance shows to her.

Tensions rise as Velvet accuses him of loving his friends more than her, and she latches onto Blake as the cause – since she doesn't know about the docks, only that he was out with Blake all weekend apparently. They argue, and Jaune breaks things off angrily.

There's also the bit where Blake is on no sleep due to her White Fang hunt, but Jaune doesn't get involved really, leaving it to Yang – he's more worried about how he's supposed to handle his EXP issue. If he ignores the Quests then they get worse, start to target people he cares about and give harsher consequences (often fatal).

If he completes them then he levels up, faster than his friends do – placing them in danger.  
The decision is taken out of his hands however when he gets a quest called "The Price of Love" – with the details; "Blake or Velvet" – consequence: Death.

Jaune is horrified and tries to find either of them. CFVY hasn't seen Velvet since she came back earlier, and follow after him due to his terror. Similarly RWBY hasn't seen Blake in a few hours – she's probably still at the library.

They arrive there to see a harrowing scene, Blake on her knees with Velvet behind her, Gambol Shroud in her hand as she threatens to kill Blake. Velvet is clearly mad, eyes wide and breathing ragged as she shouts about how this is all Blake's fault. Port is there, doing his best to calm her down – but even he looks worried, clearly knowing it won't end well.

Jaune tries to calm her down, only for Velvet to scream that it's Blake's fault – that she interfered in her and Jaune's love, that without Blake in the scene Jaune will be hers once more. Jaune tries to calm her down, but it doesn't work – Velvet has gone mad with love, and he realises her mind has been warped.

By him. His Charisma Check has literally broken her mind, changed her in some way she can't understand. Jaune walks up to her, apparently giving up and accepting Velvet's love as he hugs her. He tries to kiss her as his hand reaches for Gambol Shroud to disarm her, but Velvet realises what is happening and tries to kill Blake regardless.

Jaune cuts down Velvet instead, making his choice. No one can hear them as Velvet dies, Blake unconscious from being attacked by Velvet, and the others screaming – but as he holds her Velvet's eyes clear and she simply says:

"I… I didn't mean any of this."

"I know," Jaune says as she dies in his arms.

Arc 6 –

Jaune is before Ozpin. The Headmaster doesn't blame him, even though Jaune says he should, that it's his fault. Ozpin tries to calm him down, but Jaune won't have it, he knows it's his fault – he knows that everything is his fault entirely.

It's because he is the Gamer, that all these things happen. The Grimm are getting stronger due to him, Velvet's mind was broken due to him. Team RWBY was nearly killed at the docks, Blake was nearly killed, his sister WAS killed. All because of him.

As Jaune leaves, to return not to his dorm but to go from some fresh air, he considers killing himself – wondering if it would be better for the world if he was to die. He holds out Crocea Mors, but ultimately decides he can't. Not brave enough, or maybe too brave to give up, he isn't sure. But when his team welcomes him warmly he knows he can't leave them. RWBY too are welcoming, thankful for saving Blake's life.

The heartbreaker is when Coco comes to see him however, clearly distraught at Velvet's death. She thanks Jaune for making it quick, and for not letting Velvet do something she'd have regretted.

As the Vytal Festival approaches however, Jaune realises that he needs to be stronger still. As much as he hates the Game, he needs its power to protect his friends in the face of stronger enemies and more dangerous quests. He spends his nights in the forests farming EXP, survives on little sleep, but otherwise spends the rest of his days around his friends – terrified of leaving any of them in case a Quest happens and he's too far away to react.

The dance comes and goes, and Jaune goes alone – he notices Pyrrha's affection but stonewalls her, pretending he can't in a desperate attempt to avoid her love. Partly because he's terrified of setting off another Charisma check, partly because he's scared she will become a target. He spends the night alone, watching the revelry and ignoring Pyrrha's longing looks.

Arc 7 –

Mission time occurs, and Jaune is very much against the idea of RWBY going off without him, to the point that it causes a big fight between the teams. RWBY accurately figures out that Jaune is being protective, but as big independent girls they don't like that. They're Hunters, they have to do these kind of things.

MT Glenn happens despite his protests, and the breach occurs as per canon. Jaune and his team rush to save the populace, and when he sees Roman cause the breach he realises this was the "Consequences" of his failure to stop him earlier – the deaths of hundreds of civilians. He can literally see the bodies and blood stained across the street, and knows it's once again his fault.

It's at the very crux of that moment that Jaune tries to kill himself, in a moment of emotional panic realising he is killing everyone around him, he tries to pierce his throat with a nearby knife he finds (Crocea Mors a little too big for it) – but the knife shatters on impact with his aura. He tries again, with another discarded weapon – the same result.

The third time, the weapon shatters as soon as he picks it up, and he screams angrily as he realises what's happened. His team again find and comfort him, believing him angry that they couldn't save more lives.

There's the usual "it's not your fault Jaune," comforts, except that he knows them all false.

Arc 8 –

Jaune decides if he can't kill himself, and can't ignore the Game, then there's only one real option. He has to finish the Game, and quickly. He throws himself into training and completing quests, showing increased ruthlessness in his decisions and actions.

Ran out of time here – so the ending is summarised as an addition to planning time.

Vytal Festival takes place – Strange Grimm anomalies mounting outside the walls, the people focus inward on the Festival, desperate to distract themselves. Doomsayers cry of the apocalypse, but propaganda focuses on Hunter supremacy and the tournament. It's all a very big "Don't notice it!" play.

The Quests relate to the tournament, and so Jaune throws himself and his team into it, training ruthlessly and focusing on teamwork. They excel against team Bronze and become crowd favourites, and the ones RWBY are most worried/excited to fight. The fights remain as 4v4's all tournament – something I'm sure we'd all rather see in canon than boring 1v1 fights.

The final is RWBY vs JNPR, and it's a close fight. RWBY is stronger individually, but JNPR is a tighter team who have better teamwork. They fight as a unit, splitting RWBY up and ganging up on isolated members while heavy hitters like Nora or Pyrrha distract the others. They fight 2v1 wherever possible, with Ren and Jaune acting as surgical strike team to overwhelm key players like Weiss early on.

The fight doesn't end however, as Cinder reveals her gambit – taking over all the Atlas robots thanks to her virus in the CCT transmitting control codes, etc… they go on a massacre – meanwhile the wall collapses as the Giant Grimm enters the city. Jaune receives a "Final Quest" – Kill Cinder, win the day.

It's a frantic battle in which they are all tested, but due entirely to Gamer related skills he is able to defeat her, completing the Quest. In shock he starts to feel weaker, and realises he can't see his level, can't see his hud or anything. There's a cry of confusion from the crowd – as the giant Grimm slaughtering the populace has vanished – literally… despite that those dead remain dead, it's as though it never existed. But all jaune can do is fall to his knees in relief and cry.

Meta Knowledge: The monster vanished because Game logic - he wins the Game, so the world is saved, even if that makes so little sense, that's just how "Game's" work.

Epilogue –

Jaune is older with Pyrrha, who he marries – the two are talking about their daughter who will be going to Beacon. Jaune sits at the dining room table listening to his daughter training with a fond smile. All is peaceful.

Until he hears his daughter hesitate.

"Huh, what's this? A Quest Window?"

The glass in Jaune's hand falls to the floor and shatters.

Meta Knowledge: I.e. Stuff that would be included, that isn't in summary.

Jaune: Starts off idealistic and becomes more like a machine as the story goes on. He starts idealistic and heroic, then becomes traumatised via his sister – then starts to recover at Beacon – then broken worse by Velvet.

RWBY: Supportive of Jaune – his friendship with Ruby is like canon, except closer as she never asks him what is wrong – she just hugs him. The two bond over leadership issues better than they do in canon (which is like none, or all off-scene, canon show is REALLY bad for this – have they ever even really spoken since like first few episodes? – other than the occasional team comment?)

Blake is initially wary, but opens up to him after the Docks and Velvet fiasco, though it's clear she causes Jaune distress through memory. She stays as a distant supporter, offering what help she can but not wishing to cause him pain.

Weiss starts off acerbic as per canon, but comes to respect him as a competent leader and fast-learner, even if she never has any feelings for him. The relationship is colder because he doesn't help with Neptune in any way, but she feels she owes him for protecting Blake.

Yang builds a stronger relationship than canon as thanks to him – she tries to do her best to help him by setting him up with Pyrrha, alas she doesn't realise he's been trying to avoid that, and obviously can't understand his reasons (the Game).

JNPR: Close and supportive, they are as firm friends as canon – though of course its altered subtly.

Pyrrha: There's no dependence issues as in canon but that only serves to make things worse. Rather than by goofy and not know her, he is confident and skilled and doesn't know her – so the attraction is five times worse. The entire team is awkward over the fact that he doesn't realise (though Ren suspects Jaune does and is ignoring her.). When Jaune's trauma starts to kick in the entire team keeps trying to band around him but struggles to do so. They honestly believe it's not his fault and that he is wrongly blaming himself – because how could it be his fault!? Sadly it IS, due to the horror of the Game.

Ren: Voice of logic, Ren's intelligence allows him to quickly diagnose PTSD and Depression signs in Jaune, and the boy genuinely worries that Jaune might do something to hurt himself. This leads to Ren showing concern in the only way he really knows how – keeping an eye on Jaune – which makes things worse for Jaune, as he feels stalked and pressured.

Nora: Tries to heal Jaune through overwhelming affection, and honestly is the one who gets closest to success and acts as an emotional buffer for Jaune. Her simple reasoning – "if he can't stop blaming himself I won't try, I'll just hug him!" – provides more concrete results than Ren's reasoning and Pyrrha's misplaced sympathy.

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C.F.'s Reaction:

I really don't have much to say. Horror's not my cup of tea.

I'm not sure this really counts as a deconstruction. I mean, it's certain a great example of how OP doesn't mean happy, but a deconstruction is aimed at taking a premise to its logical, unvarnished conclusion. This doesn't.

It's a way of how The Game isn't benevolent, sure, but there's no logic to why The Game is screwing over Jaune. There's no end-goal, reason, or purpose behind it- no internal logic, which actually reduces the horror. The Game's not scary- it's just harmful for no apparent reason, and things that are harmful for no reason or rational aren't malevolent- they're just forces of nature. Horror requires an element of malevolence, but malevolence requires an element of will. How horrifying is a tornado? Scary, sure- but horrifying?

As it is, Jaune gets kicked around for no clear reason, for no clear purpose, and the Game arbitrarily concludes at an equally arbitrary point. There wasn't a compelling character drama because there wasn't a challenge for the character to overcome- Jaune can only endure, the people who get caught in the game are screwed, and everyone else doesn't know what's going on.

I hate to say this, but... I was kinda bored. Maybe I'm not the best audience for this.

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Coeur's Reflection:

It's a horror story and something I haven't tried before, I'm not very good at horror but I took inspiration from Final Destination, an old anime called Gant (I think?) and a few other things. Either way, I'm not good at it and I think it shows a little.

The potential is there, as are the mechanics – and the individual plot pieces DO work – they just need to work a little better, or be paced better. I think before starting anything like this I would need to read a few horror stories, just to get an idea of pacing. Alas I haven't read horror since Goosebumps! Which is like 15 years old.

You can also clearly see that come the time limit I ran out of ideas, and that's how it is sometimes. If I had longer maybe I could have thought of something, but such is not the nature of the Game. As such I threw together a quick summary just to finish it, when it's not the ending I would have honestly liked.

Ah well.

Could be better – but has the makings of an idea, if it were explored a bit more deeply. Perhaps more on the Ozpin angle as a mentor figure, maybe more with Coco to delve into the guilt there (comfort sex to make things worse?), maybe even leave Cinder behind entirely, and end with a different enemy – something purely constructed by the Game itself. For added pain/trauma it could BE Ozpin, after he becomes a mentor.

So the Game even forces him to kill his mentor, who is no doubt being subverted by the Game…  
Or Ironwood… Anything might have been better than the canon ending! Oh well!


	55. Parents: With Family Like This

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Special Author Note:

Welcome to Parent Week! The theme week we didn't realize we were going to do until it stumbled upon us.

So there's good news and there's good news. The good news is that Coeur and I had enough Re-Do's and Continuations that we've decided to outright split up them into two separate theme weeks. A Re-Do theme week, in which we 'fix' fills we were unsatisfied with, and a Continuation theme week, in which we carry them forward.

Thing is, we're not ready with either of those yet. But here's the other good news!

We realized we had the fills and the prompts of a distinctly family nature- so enjoy Parent Week, a week with prompts themed around, well, parents.

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Coeur's Prompt- Growing up in a Hunter Family was hard for Jaune, especially with *** as his mother/father.

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C.F.'s Fill:

Title: With Family Like This…

Growing up in a Hunter Family was hard for Jaune, especially with Glynda Goodwitch as a mother… and Roman Torchwick as a father. Couldn't he have parents with less literal custody battles?

The story begins in the Yellow Trailer. Blonde hair, long, walking into the club. Eyes turn to track the impressive figure. The bartender, Junior, takes notice as the beauty orders a Strawberry Sunrise and begins to pump the bartender for information on a missing person.

Then the doors slide open, and Yang walks in to see Glynda Goodwitch at the bar, already occupying her own source for a missing person.

Glynda disapproves of Yang's intent to order a drink, recognizing her as a Beacon applicant, but the two blondes soon realize that they have similar reasons for being here- and that they're in competition for Junior's time and attention. The two start to quibble over access to Junior, who's quickly shut out as the two begin to argue about who has the more pressing/important reason to be. Yang is prodded into mentioning her mother- but Glynda trumps her with the search for her only son, causing gasps all around. Between that and an angry teacher who could spike her Beacon application, Yang backs down, and Glynda turns towards Junior.

Junior is caught sneaking away, and he orders his goons to attack as he darts into the back. Glynda makes to chase after him, knowing he knows something, and Yang gets caught up in the fighting that follows as she chooses to lend a hand. She hardly needs to- Glynda mops the goons with ease, and levitates the Miltia twins into the air when they try to interfere- but then a new contender enters the battle when Neo enters the fray and strikes at Glynda. Glynda recognizes Neo and calls her by name to stop, but Neo's clearly there for a fight. With Neo keeping her occupied, Glynda asks Yang to chase after Junior into the back.

Yang does, and find's Junior tugging a large heavy suitcase towards the exit. It's big and cumbersome, and Yang is easily able to dispatch Junior. Figuring that the suitcase must have Junior's valuables and the clues/intel he has, Yang opens it- only for it to open with a pop and a hiss and cold smoke.

When the smoke clears, inside isn't papers or valuables, but a blonde boy- Jaune. Dazed and clearly confused, Jaune sees Yang- but his first word is "Father?" Yang laughs it off as confusion, and introduces herself before asking for Sleeping Beauty's name. Jaune introduces himself, and asks whether his mother or father sent her to collect him. Yang is confused, and a bit concerned, but decides to go with her gut- and her recent team-up with Glynda- and claims she's with his mother.

Jaune doesn't respond well to that- he tenses in fear- but Glynda arrives and interrupts. Glynda disclaims that Yang is with her- just a bystander caught up- and drops the family Arc words about how she said she'd come back for Jaune. Jaune relaxes, and when Glynda calls him to take him away Jaune follows. Glynda asks for Yang to stay there, and stop anyone who might try to pursue her as she takes Jaune away to safety. Yang agrees, ready to hold out, glad to have done a good deed and gotten on the good side of one of her future teachers…

Until Glynda walks through the door, stumbling away from her battle with Neo. Yang is confused, asks about Jaune, which gets Glynda's attention like a hawk. When Glynda realizes what happened, she rages- and Yang realizes she let the kidnapper steal Jaune from right under her nose.

Not kidnapper, Glynda corrects. Thief. A master thief. And she was so close to catching up with him-

Glynda doesn't explain everything to Yang, but levels her position and authority to blackmail/bribe Yang. Miss Xiao Long will get her application to Beacon approved… provided she forget and not tell anything of what happened her tonight. Yang agrees, obviously, but leaves and is found by Ruby in a confused state.

/

The next scene is a few weeks later, with the start of episode one. Ruby is in the dust store- and near her is a young blonde boy. (Yes, it's Jaune.) Ruby doesn't pay him much mind until they both reach for the same weapon magazine. This sparks a conversation in which Jaune asks Ruby if she's a fan of Hunters and Huntresses, Ruby geeks out about weapons, and is pleased she hit it off with a stranger. As she introduces herself and is about to ask his name, Jaune gets a scroll call that says 'Father.' From the one-sided conversation, Ruby hears Father say he's coming to pick Jaune up and to stay put, but keep an eye out for any Huntresses. Jaune awkwardly laughs, and says he's standing to one right now, and the line goes silent before Father orders Jaune to stay where he is. Giving his word that he'll be there soon, he makes Jaune give his own to not leave with any Huntresses no matter what.

Ruby innocently asks if something's the matter and what's the matter with Huntresses, and Jaune (who still hasn't introduced himself) confesses that he was kidnapped by one before. Jaune laughs if off and says it's just his dad being overprotective, Ruby commiserates, and the two share a laugh over over-protective parents. Ruby gallantly offers to protect him from any evil Huntresses, and though Jaune tries to pass and suggests Ruby leave to avoid a scene, Ruby insists.

Ruby is thus surprised when a few minutes later Yang bursts into the shop- out of breath, glancing around, and making a beeline right to them. Ruby's surprised to see her, but Yang barely pays attention to her- looking Jaune up and down and checking him for anything. Ruby quickly becomes suspicious when Yang hastily introduces herself as being sent by Jaune's father- and knows that this Yang is a fake when she introduces herself to Ruby as a total stranger.

When 'Yang' begins to drag Jaune off- after dropping a meaningful word about how she gave her word that she'd be there for Jaune soon- Ruby attacks. Shouting at Jaune to flee, Ruby calls out 'Yang' as an imposter of her sister and reminds Jaune of what his father told him- to not leave with any Huntress no matter what. Jaune begins to protest, but Ruby's fighting and has an advantage over the fake Yang. Ruby knocks the fake Yang out of the building and into the street- where 'Yang' begins to simmer, and change form.

In her place is the more familiar form of Roman Torchwick- picking himself up and dusting off his coat. Ruby is confused, Jaune is able to get a word in, and introduces Roman as his father. Jaune is able to de-escalate the fight- explaining to Roman that Ruby wasn't out to kidnap him- and Roman impatiently wants to get Ruby out of there before 'she' comes. 'She' makes her presence known with a telekinetic barrage as Glynda attacks Roman with extreme prejudice. Roman fights back, firing some shots and flares, and tells Jaune to run and remember what he told him about Huntresses. Roman also shouts off at Ruby that, if she was serious about playing hero, to protect Jaune from any other Huntress.

Jaune and Ruby run away from the battle, Ruby taking her duty seriously even as she's surprised by Jaune's admission that Roman is his father and the attacker is his mother. Ruby's confused about who's good and who's bad- all the more so when Jaune says that the time he was kidnapped was by his own Dad. And then Mother. And Dad again. These kind of custody battles are more common than he'd like to admit.

Out of breath, Jaune stops a few blocks away from the battle. Out of an alleyway comes a mysterious and masked Huntress with a fire theme. Cinder introduces herself as an ally of Jaune's father, and offers to take him (or them, when Ruby intervenes) to him. Ruby's sold, but Jaune remembers Roman's warning and invokes his word to his father about not going with any Huntress. Cinder attacks, Ruby protects, and is able to hold out until Glynda comes and drives Cinder away. Roman is flying the Bullhead, and cajoles Cinder into falling back (by insulting Glynda to increase her anger and intensity of attacks), even if it means leaving Jaune behind.

With Roman and Cinder away, Glynda turns to Jaune- and there's tense, awkward silence between the two. Glynda lessens a fraction as she introduces herself to Jaune- and we hear that it's been nearly seven years since they last saw eachother. Jaune is silent, and Glynda sighs, and resolves that they can talk it out later as she moves to take possession of him.

She's stopped by Ruby- who's confused, clearly out of her depth, but committed to protecting Jaune from evil Huntresses until things make sense and she knows what's going on. Glynda gives a short, one-sided version- she's Jaune's mother, Roman's the bad guy and kidnapping daddy- but Ruby doesn't know if she can trust her, and Jaune's reactions (warmth for father, silence for Glynda) suggest a different story. Plus, Cinder's attack on Jaune. Ruby won't let down her guard until police- or preferably a Huntsman- show up.

It's the police, who arrive with sirens blaring and searchlights illuminating them all. The police call on all of them to drop their weapons and surrender- they're received word of a kidnapping in progress, and Glynda matches the description of a suspect. Glynda sighs- knowing this is a final gift for Roman- and the police take control of the situation.

Scene transitions still with Ruby at the police station. Ruby is with Jaune, who's been silent since police custody but is clearly more comfortable with Ruby than anyone else there, including Glynda. Ruby's given her account, and briefly sees Ozpin as he arrives to resolve things. Ozpin's conversation is different than canon- more about how he's the trustworthy Huntsman Ruby feels able to trust to take custody of Jaune. There's not much else with Ozpin, because Yang arrives after being called in. Yang recognizes Jaune, who responds to her and opens up to a conversation. Jaune shuts back down again when Glynda comes in and reveals it was she who called in Yang.

Glynda takes Ruby and Yang aside into a private room, where she speaks to both of them. While Glynda has something against each of them- Yang for letting Roman steal Jaune away, and Ruby for standing between her and Jaune- she also has something good to say for them. Yang dropped her own mission to help someone else's family issue, and was tricked by Roman because she trusted in Glynda and didn't know Roman's disguise semblance. Ruby, meanwhile, defended Jaune- spotting an imposter, defending Jaune from attack, and standing up against Glynda when she didn't know what was going on. Both sisters defended Jaune, and know Roman's tricks, and have a bond of familiarity that would be impossible to duplicate.

Glynda can use that when Jaune is released into her custody.

Glynda herself extends an invitation for Ruby to come to Beacon along with Yang. The conditional is that they'll be expected to protect Jaune from Roman's machinations, and any other attempts to kidnap him. Do so, and she'll ensure they pass. Fail, and they will face severe discipline.

Plus, in a softer moment, Glynda can already tell that reconnecting with Jaune will be difficult- he's clearly more comfortable and open with the two of them than her. As a mother- well, that's all she needs to be said before Ruby and Yang agree.

/

Super macho abriviation here instead of having a lot to say about nothing.

A pre-initiation interim establishes Jaune and Glynda's relationship. Glynda hasn't seen Jaune in seven years, when Roman last took him away. Before then, they were very close- Jaune calling her 'Mom' instead of 'Mother.' Now things are very strained- Jaune doesn't talk about himself, or what he's done over the last seven years, and is keeping secrets about Roman. Compared to Ruby and Yang, with whom he can talk easily, Jaune is wound up tight with Glynda, who in turn keeps him under de-facto house arrest for fear he'll run away/be stolen by Roman. Only when Glynda- at the urging of fellow teachers- relents a bit and gives him more freedom does Jaune open up slightly and do affectionate actions. Glynda is strict but shows a desire to love- but Jaune isn't opening for her. Jaune clearly cares for Roman, which is a mood-crasher for Glynda.

When initiation occurs, meetings occur somewhat differently thanks to the divergence of Jaune not being airsick, and Yang not feeling a need to ditch Ruby since they both have Jaune as a friend/mission. Jaune gets off on a bad foot with Weiss implicitly because he has issues with Huntresses with severe rule-abiding mindsets. Pyrrha conversation is different- Jaune knows who Pyrrha is, but offers friendship regardless. There's some foreshadowing here of a surprising twist, particularly when Roman reaches out to Glynda and warns her not to let Jaune do initiation.

Glynda dismisses it- but takes steps to prepare, angling for the canon JNPR team-up as a matter of design. Her son deserves the best, hence angling for Pyrrha to be the nearest person. Nora and Ren are close friends, and thus won't be dopple-gangered by Roman. Glynda's bending rules in some ways, and so refuses to play favorite in others- she doesn't give Jaune advice or hints about what's to come in initiation. When Jaune asks if she'll train him, she's thrilled at his outreach, but refuses to do so until after initiation and she an officially do it as a teacher- again, to ward off favoritism. Instead she reassures him, promising him that it will be fine.

The surprise reveal of initiation is that Jaune isn't trained by Roman in any way- which Glynda realizes only after she catapulted an aura-less boy into a forest full of Grimm, and without a landing strategy to boot. Jaune survives, but is hurt, and Glynda goes mother-bear tearing the forest apart to find him. Initiation ends with Jaune hurt and in shock, repeating her (broken) promise that it would be fine. She said it would be fine... Glynda returns, stricken with guilt, to an angry message from Roman, who somehow knows. Roman's message amounts to that if she's going to break his children again, he'll have to take Jaune back.

Cue ominous foreshadowing, and a flash-over to Roman sending a note to a mysterious agent of his who is already in Beacon, telling her to watch over Jaune...

And that's the end of the story as written. This would have been one of those 'way too detailed' fills, except I didn't know what I wanted.

Jaune's story was going to be the frankly broken household/family in which both parents love him but hate eachother. He's been fought over, often literally, for most of his life, and the last several years has been with Roman after Roman stole him and away and never stopped running. Jaune's impossible dream is that his parents will get back together like his youngest memories. Jaune's issue with Glynda is that he cares for his half-sisters (the ones he knows), but Glynda has a bad past with them as proof of Roman's infidelity. Jaune's issue with Roman amounts to being on opposite sides of the good/evil divide. Jaune's closest friends are Yang and Ruby, and Yang in particular serves as a foil/sympathizer the dream of having parents get back together (Yang's musings of what she'd expect to happen if she did find Raven and put her in a room with Taiyang).

Roman was a bad husband and person, but a good/loving father, and views Jaune as the one good thing about his time with Glynda which was also the last time Roman kept and used the name 'Arc' before he was disgraced and disowned. Roman thinks of Jaune as a 'real' Arc, and doesn't want him hurt or corrupted by the outside world or his mother. Roman has a grudge against Glynda because Glynda was (accidentally) responsible for the accident that rendered Neo, Roman's half daughter, mute. Ever since then, Roman's been extremely protective of his children- to the point that Cinder is securing his services through blackmail ever since she caught wind of Jaune.

Glynda is a woman struggling to be a mother after so long apart and after the aftermath of her relationship with Roman, who seduced her by using the Arc name. Once trusting and warm, now untrusting and cold, Glynda tries to be firm but fair but inadverdantly comes across as harsh and uncaring, even though she's hiding what she feels. There was going to be a foil relationship with Weiss- over self-control, an inclination to be overly controlling, but true affection and tenderness underneath- in which Jaune's (initialy bad) impression of Weiss becomes a metaphor for his relationship with Glynda. Much of Glynda's story is her trying to reconnect and be forgiven by Jaune for throwing him to the beowolves in initiation, and coming to terms with what she did to Neo in the past.

Past that...

-Blake's subplot/reoccuring joke is that she's seen as the most likely candidate for Roman being a doppleganger in disguise, since Blake's the only non-celeberty and person without close friend/family who could spot the differance. She's not, but it brings Glynda's suspicion.

-There was a subplot of Roman having a daughter (who Jaune doesn't know as a sister and vice-versa) being a spy/agent inside Beacon, tied to the spy plot. The spy/half-sister turns out to be Pyrrha, in a sort of Luke/Princess Leia dynamic of half-siblings. Pyrrha doesn't know Jaune is her brother, and vice versa, and Roman's intervention into Beacon proper is to prevent them from becoming too close. Pyrrha is an example of what Roman's tried to do with his daughters to protect them- he leaves them with their mothers, supports them through their life of crime, and tries to keep them as unassociated with him as possible.

-Neo is Jaune's oldest half-sister. Mute from a training accident when Roman tried to bring her to Glynda to raise a family together with Jaune. Neo is a bullying big sister of sorts for Jaune, and serves as a foil for the loud Yang.

-Cinder is the ultimate villain, and it's revealed that Roman's supporting her because of blackmail over Jaune. Roman wasn't trying to smuggle Jaune out at the start just from Glynda, but to protect him from Cinder. The only person Roman fears Jaune with more than Glynda is Cinder, who's threats are what drive Roman to ever worse crimes and threaten his relationship with Jaune. Cinder serves as a catalyst for Roman to come to terms with Glynda- accepting/forgiving her for the accident that rendered Neo mute, and relying on her to protect Jaune when he can't.

And that's about it. Story plots tend to include Jaune getting closer to Glynda over time, and finding himself on the opposite side of Roman as Roman is a part of Team Bad Guys. The climax of the story is the breach, when Roman ultimately betrays Cinder to save Jaune in a team-up with Glynda. Cinder is captured, conspiracy is foiled thanks to Roman, but Roman is arrested and in jail. Glynda and Roman come to terms that they're both Jaune's parents, not one or the other, and Glynda relents and allows Jaune to visit Roman regularly.

An epilogue/finale occurs over Beacon graduation. Jaune is graduating, may have gotten the girl, and set for the future. Jaune's a success, and getting acknowledgement from his grandparent Arcs for restoring honor to the family name, and Glynda is a proud mama.

Jaune is happy with her- showing how far they've come- but a bit disappointed/let down that his father isn't there to see him. Roman's still in jail.

Jaune graduates, and bumps into a janitor outside of his dorm room as he comes to collect his final things. The Janitor congratulates Jaune on graduation, and mentions someone dropped off something while he was away. Jaune enters, and finds a photo of his graduation- signed by Roman, showing that he was there. Jaune races outside, excited, and the janitor watches him leave with a smile.

Glynda walks up behind the janitor, and starts a conversation in which she reveals that there's breaking news that terrible thief Roman Torchwick broke out of prison that morning. No one knows where he could be. The Janitor suggests that maybe he had somewhere important to be in person, and Glynda knows without admitting she knows that the Janitor is Roman in disguise. Glynda gives him a hour head start before she'll alert authorities- which offers him time to spend with Jaune on this important day, and Glynda exasperatedly claims that the next time she expects to see Roman is at Jaune's wedding.

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Coeur's Impression:

This one was okay (the premise was great), but once more it felt like College Fool got the balance a little off. It never feels like Glynda really deserves her second chance in any way. If I were in Jaune's shoes I'd run away back to Roman at the first chance.

It's too easy to sympathize with Roman, and hard to do so with Glynda, where I believe the real desire was to have more of a balance between the two. Again, I can't help but suspect Glynda of serious child abuse, since she's so willing to throw aside her family for duty or whatever loyalty she has to Vale or Ozpin, or just the law.

That little thing about her causing Neo's muteness too just makes it worse, leaving me imagining her as an abusive mother - perhaps that Neo was crying, and Glynda - not knowing what to do - tried to make her be quiet with her semblance, nearly killing her and rendering her mute. And honestly, there's just no recovery from that in my mind, and it hardly feels like Glynda ever tries.

Roman escapes and comes to graduation - good on him - he's always been the one showing effort and actually doing what he can for Jaune. And his reward? Glynda gives him a head start... feels like he should give her a bullet.

Which I doubt was theintent, of course. That's just how it came across to me.

Roman gets short-changed, despite being the likable one. Glynda gets everything, despite being the b***. Jaune doesn't seem to care (oh sure, he wishes Roman was there - and is happy when he gets the picture), but why isn't he doing something to actually help Roman? Especially since his guilt was pretty much all due to Cinder's blackmail, which Jaune probably knows by the end.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Unfinished and woefully unpolished... but at least it's shorter?

(Don't worry- a few mega-fills are following.)

This is what happens when I don't get a firm plan in the 15 minutes. A firm plan I like lets me fill in the details as I fill, giving those mega-fills, but here I got caught in the setup. And it's a strong set-up- but really only two and a half scenes. Yang, Ruby, and the police station.

Everything else was slapped together, and I agree with Coeur. There needs to be a build-up arc of somesort for Jaune and Glynda to tentatively bond and reunite before initiation, so that Glynda's failure/Jaune's injury hurts more. Jaune's initiation should threaten to be relationship-shattering, not relationship-leading, or else there's no relationship to be had.

Might be best to bring in Ruby and Yang to Beacon early as babysitters/assigned friends for a pre-initiation mini-arc. Similarly, at least the outlines of the Neo and Pyrrha-as-a-sister plots... probably with more Luke-Leia dynamic as well.

Obviously this was all written before season 3 episode 9.

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	56. Parents: The Mentor

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt: -secret-

(This prompt inherently spoils the fill, so I decided to move it to the end. See if you can guess the prompt by the end. -C.F.)

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Initial Thoughts: This is an interesting one, and you know what – it's the kind of prompt that spoilers the story before it even begins lol, the entire time you're reading this you will all know how it ends – but try to imagine that you don't… because that's what it would be like in a real fic, and hopefully it will read better for that fact xD

Title: The Mentor

Summary: Jaune Arc was a struggling student who received aid from an unlikely source, his partner Pyrrha. But what if he also received aid from a slightly more… expected source; a Professor of Beacon?

Arc 1:  
The story starts in the history class where Jaune gets the question wrong. He's never heard of Fort Castle, and come on - Pyrrha's motions were totally binoculars. To make matters worse Pyrrha's defence of him came at the cost of angering Cardin - which only makes matters worse for him.

For now though he has detention with Oobleck, who after dismissing Cardin asks Jaune about how he is settling in at Beacon. Jaune comments that it's fun, that he likes his team, etc... but Oobleck quickly reveals that he wants to discuss academics, namely Jaune's poor ones. The teacher is concerned (FORGET THE PROMPT - I know you've already all figured it out T_T ) - Jaune admits that academics have never been his strong point, really just wanting out of the detention. But he is surprised when Oobleck says "If you had the chance, would you be willing to learn?"

Jaune is surprised, so far no one has really wanted to help him, and Oobleck's comment that it's his duty as a Professor makes sense. Oobleck sweetens the deal by saying that academic knowledge can directly equate to better combat skills - as the late General Lagune just showed them. "History, Mr Arc, is rife with mistakes - mistakes we can learn from and avoid, to become better people, better fighters - better hunters."

Jaune agrees and is told to come for lessons on Friday and Monday evenings for an hour each time.

Arc 2 -  
Jaune's attends a few lessons with Oobleck - it's heavily summarised here of course, but each lesson would be covered in full. The two discuss history, other lessons and even Jaune himself. Why he wants to become a hunter and such. It all echoes of Oobleck's lessons at Mt Grimm for the readers (hopefully fitting in character for Oobleck, and not being so damn obvious as to the spoilery prompt).

Jaune becomes calmer as a result of the lessons, slowly learning to think things through a little more, even avoid some of the bullying from Cardin, though it can't last. His improving grades only seek to make Cardin look worse, and he makes sure to take it out on Jaune in Glynda's class - where Oobleck's lectures cannot help him.

This leads to the Pyrrha offer of help, which ends as it does in canon - with Jaune being blackmailed by Cardin. He becomes distant from his team and RWBY - but closer to Oobleck as a result, because it's the last person he can still talk to. In the end he tells Oobleck what has happened, but begs the teacher not to rat him out to Ozpin, or to come down on Cardin - or his secret will be revealed. He expects to be expelled, but is surprised when Oobleck sighs but says he will keep it hidden for now.

Oobleck also offers to train him in combat as well, if Jaune is willing, "Don't forget Mr Arc, I may be a teacher and a historian - but I am also a hunter." Jaune gets training in private, and Oobleck also tries to convince him and help him break free of Cardin.

This leads to the Forever Fall trip as normal, except that Jaune is able to dispatch the Ursa without Pyrrha's aid - surprising both her and Ruby/Weiss.

Arc 3 -  
Jaune is enthused to have his team back, but turns down Pyrrha's offer for training, saying he has a different teacher. The girl is upset, but accepts Jaune's reasoning when he tells her he's getting lessons from one of the teachers. His team know he goes for lessons on the evenings with Oobleck, and figure correctly that he just expanded them a little.

Jaune grows more under Oobleck's tutoring - though the teacher always makes it clear that brain beats out brawn, and forces Jaune to do academics as much as physical training. Oobleck also starts to engage Jaune in philosophical debates, about faunus, about discrimination and how wars get started. It's all very deep, and becomes clear that Oobleck is trying to teach Jaune some pretty big lessons, even if Jaune doesn't fully understand what they are.

Jaune begins to trust the man more however, and spends time with him outside of the lectures too. Sometimes just chatting. He finds out that Oobleck was actually married once, but that his wife divorced him because he was always too busy with his work, his passion for history and hunting. Oobleck admits that he wasn't a good husband because of that. Jaune commiserates, saying that his father actually died on a hunt too, that he grew up without a father at all. Oobleck asks what the man was like, and Jaune says his mother always said he was a hero who died protecting people.

"He sounds like a good man Mr Arc, better than me for sure."

The Blake docks incident happens in this arc, although it doesn't involve Jaune in any way - team RWBY still draws them in on the secret, and it's that scene which we see. They are all surprised, though more so when Jaune pledges his personal support to Blake. He quotes a line Oobleck taught him about how hatred begets violence. Blake is touched and thanks him, even as the rest of RWBY is subtly impressed by his maturity.

Arc 4  
Some more closeness between Jaune and the teacher, as the plot progresses. Most of the action is happening with RWBY of course, but Jaune continues to grow as a character. He is calmer, impresses his teammates more - and also holds himself well in spars, slowly raising among the ranks as he puts his mind to use more than his body. He even manages to defeat Weiss in a crowning moment, by luring her into using large ice attacks - and then using them against her, obscuring her vision and even causing a large chunk of ice to fall on her, distracting her long enough for him to knock her out the ring.

Meanwhile with the White Fang activity intensifying outside Beacon, Jaune is becoming more concerned for Team RWBY - who look increasingly haggered and troubled. He offers help, but nothing great ever comes of it. Though he does subtly aid Blake and Yang - by doing a bunch of research for Blake and presenting it to her. On the condition that she listens to Yang and slows down. Blake is at first skeptical, until she sees just how much he has gathered and accepts his proposal. Yang thanks him with a smack on the rear, making him jump.

There's some more chats between Oobleck and Jaune too - with them both delving into each other's personal life. Jaune kinda wants to set oobleck up with someone, but the man laughs and says married life wasn't for him once - and won't be again. He wants to teach and do excavations until the day he dies. On the other hand Oobleck does offer Jaune some advice with the ladies, which while it doesn't lead to instant romance - does get positive responses from some of the more outspoken girls.

Arc 5

The breach mission occurs, Jaune waves goodbye to Oobleck as he goes on the mission with team RWBY. Jaune also chastises them for being upset at getting Oobleck, stating that he is a great hunter and knows a lot.

Long story short, Breach happens - Jaune and his team leap in to help, and acquit themselves most admirably. With Jaune cutting down not only the Ursa, but even

fighting back to back with Pyrrha (not on equal ground) but good enough that she considers fighting with him better than doing her own thing. As Glynda seals the breach and the teams cheer, it's a big moment for Jaune - who has finally proven not only to everyone else, but most importantly to HIMSELF - that he is fit to be a hunter.

Oobleck watches it all with a smile, proud of Jaune's achievements. Ozpin walks up behind him and asks if Oobleck will ever tell him, he even refers to him as Nic. The Professor smiles, saying that he doesn't know - but that both of them are more than happy as things are.

Ozpin comments that the boy could use a father figure, but Oobleck just shakes his head. "Don't you know Ozpin? His father died a long time ago, I think we should let the dead rest."

End

Welp, the ending was rushed, time - but I wouldn't want it to go on through season 3 anyway. jaune has reached his point. He is a better fighter now, in 1v1 and also team combat as a clever strategist. Sure I could take it further, with him proving it in the Vytal Tournament, but it would feel like a long way to do it.

The story would already be really long, since each lesson would be a few thousand words each really, and there would be loads of lessons. The story doesn't cover the combat between RWBY and the fang either - so would have a lot more at school moments, with more combat lessons. More cases of JNPR showing themselves well - maybe even team vs team battles where Jaune's growth as a leader can be proven.

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College Fool's Prompt: Professor formerly-Arc: Jaune's father was a strong Hunter- and an absent one. Too busy with his heroics- and his hobbies- and his duties - to raise his children. So he left it to the mother- and accepted the divorce that followed- and changed his name and tried to move on and almost forgot all about it until the son who no longer recognized him (literally) walked into Beacon Academy.

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C.F.'s Reaction:

So I made a joke with Coeur that if he made this about Nicholas Arc, his OC for Jaune's dad, I'd demand another one. I'm not sure if this still counts, but I sort of want to call for a redo anyway. This may come off as harsh, but I know Coeur can do better drama than this.

Where to start... ultimately I like the conceit, but I think it's missing some significant things as a story. Tension, and a rising action, and any sort of climax between Jaune and Oobleck- even if there's no discovery of the truth, things go both too well and not well enough.

Once the Cardin threat passes, neither Jaune or Oobleck face any challenge whatsoever. They are ignored by the main RWBY plot, they do nothing that affects the main RWBY plot, and they accomplish nothing that changes the main RWBY plot. They're largely irrelevant- set off in their own little story of spending mentorship time together. Which sounds worse than I mean, but that's the cost of a low-drama non-drama where Jaune has fond thoughts of Oobleck but doesn't do much else. Jaune has a respected mentor. Oobleck is happy to be it and keep watch from a distance. Nothing threatens to push them apart.

This is what a romance story in which the couple gets together from the start and never has any problems feels like. It's sweet, and makes you smile, but also... dare I say, boring?

But I also mean what I say about how they aren't close enough. This story so handrails the plot of canon that, apart from Jaune being a more likable person, there's no real evidence or butterfly effects to show that he and Oobleck are close. Jaune isn't worse off as a person when he arrives into Beacon for a lack of a father figure- he's the same as in canon. Jaune doesn't accompany Oobleck on a excavation mission of any sort, whether during a break in classes or an escape from Cardin or otherwise. Jaune doesn't, say, try to trade missions with RWBY so that his team can get Oobleck, and get involved in the Breach more directly. Ozpin makes the comment about how Jaune could use a father figure- but my first reaction was 'how'? In the story as is, Jaune's perfectly developed- and honestly, Oobleck's influence is polishing the canon developments that would happen without him, not something new that reflects the change. Oobleck doesn't help Jaune make peace with a dead dad. Oobleck doesn't do anything remarkable that isn't passable as interest in any other struggling student. Oobleck fills the role of a mentor, not a father, and both Jaune and Oobleck are content in that and need nothing else.

Romance stories need an obstacle to the romance in order for there to be romantic tensions. Family drama stories need, well, family- which, aside from the secret hidden motivation of Oobleck, is missing. A lack of family, a lack of drama, and a lack of family drama. And there's just so much potential for it-

-Jaune coming to Beacon worse off with the lack of a father figure. In temperament, or personality, or compensation- give Jaune a need for a father figure, or a reason for Oobleck to feel a need to step. Say Jaune is more reckless, because he has a lionized view of his father as swift and brave, and Oobleck has to correct it while feeling the guilt for how his abandonment has affected Jaune.

-Jaune and Oobleck bonding over, and confronting Oobleck's reliance on, his hobbies as an archeologist. Say Oobleck uses it as an escape and reset from things he doesn't like. He brings Jaune out on a trip during the bullying arc to give Jaune a respite from Cardin. They bond. But Jaune tries to drag Oobleck in from the dig sites to socialize more- with the flaws of Oobleck running away from family to these sites being something Jaune helps with. This could tie into that idea of Jaune trying to play matchmaer, with a mini-climax of Jaune dragging/getting Oobleck to attend the Beacon Dance. (Maybe with the bet/threat of Jaune wearing a dress if Oobleck doesn't, just to show the changes.)

-Jaune and Oobleck becoming too close and friendly. Not in an improper way, but in a way detrimental to Jaune- say Jaune spends less time with his friends and partner, and more with Oobleck. Oobleck's smarter, more helpful, better- and Jaune's getting that missing father experience he doesn't realize. Oobleck pushing back, for Jaune's own good and for fear of being too close, reasons both selfless and selfish, can be a drama.

-The subject of Jaune leaving his home and (presumably) single mother when he left to become a Huntsman like dad. Huge potential with this one alone, with Jaune as a catalyst for Oobleck to reunite/reconnect with Mama Arc and the consequences thereof. Does Oobleck urge Jaune to call Mother and let her know he's alive? Does Oobleck do so himself, the time he's made contact since he left? Does Mama Arc, following an letter, come to Beacon and come face to face with Oobleck, while Jaune's confused and clueless in the middle of the tension in which he unwittingly sides with Oobleck over his mother's fear/stress/hostility?

This may be unfair of me- it sounds as if I'm criticizing Coeur for not writing the plot I had in mind- but I'm really feeling a lack of plot in general. A lack of challenge. And there's just so many I could see Coeur doing so well if he actually put stress on the two. Jaune running from home is such a big thing of 'One Good Turn', and I know Coeur could make something great of this. I know it. But if feels like wasted potential instead.

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Coeur's Reflection:

I made some mistakes on this fill, for reference it was done before Christmas when I was in a bit of a rush, but still... mistakes were made. College Fool is right to say there are missed opportunities, and quite a few areas where conflict is lacking.

I did consider a mother and father reunite angle, but decided against it. I didn't want to sully the reason they broke up (which is Oobleck's guilt). Also I wanted to have the angle that the flame was gone - they messed up and it's over, she won't even consider him, and he knows he messed it up.

But yeah, I missed out on things really - and could have done this one better.


	57. Parents: Time Traveling Children

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt- Multiple children claiming to be from the future show up and call Jaune dad. Obviously they all come from different mothers from different futures and- wait, what's that? The same mother, from the same future, with another baby on the way? That must be a really happy marriage...

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C.F.'s Fill:

Note: I decided to make a speed-fill of this. What you see is exactly what I wrote within 20 minutes.

Title: You and Me Baby, We Ain't Nothing But Mammals…

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Genre- Parody

Context: Jaune and Velvet- Early Relationship

Bunch of kids emerge from future, with escalating implications for the love life

Short Story

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Story begins immediately post-Jaundice, when Jaune stands up to Cardin for Velvet's sake. Jaune is dragging his feet, when a strange faunus kid- maybe Ruby's age- ends up impatiently expecting him to do something right as Jaune is intending to do something. Jaune does, gets Velvet's gratitude, and leaves.

Strange faunus kid arrives again, and chides Jaune for not asking Velvet out. Jaune's clueless as to why- 'because she's totally into you, duh,' and kid leaves in despair/disgust when Jaune doesn't see anything romantic about it.

Kid A meets with another Kid B, also a faunus, saying Dad is no good. They've got to work on Mom.

Kid B approaches Velvet later, and talks up Jaune- swooning about how romantic Jaune was. Velvet didn't think anything of it, but Kid B puts the idea that Jaune is interested in her in Velvet's head. Velvet is embarrassed, and wondering.

Series of events as coincidences push Jaune and Velvet into contact- clearly fabricated incidents. Jaune starts to realize it's the interference of A- and Velvet suspects B- but when they try to catch the culprit they find Kid C- who ends up being revealed from the future by Kid D, who appears in a flash of lightning associated with time travel.

Group exposition happens as the Kids are rounded up and interrogated. They're Jaune and Velvet's kids from the future, come back to… well, hook their parents up for no good reason. Because it would be 'romantic.'

Various parody and deconstructions of 'Jaune's kid from the future' commence. It's not a bad future, they're not in danger, the kids aren't even from different futures. They just wanted to see how their parents got together.

Trouble is, the timetraveling interference has mucked up how Jaune and Velvet would have gotten together- embarrassing both, and threatening the conception of the children through the butterfly effect. This is revealed as more children come from the future, in hopes of stopping the children from interfering, only to be unable to go back to the future now that their future is kaput.

In order to return back to the future, the kids have to get Velvet and Jaune (back?) together to conceive them- playing matchmaker to their parents. Major reoccurring plot joke is that the sheer number of children is just how much sex would be needed.

Velvet and Jaune suffer through the shenanigans- awkward at first since this all pre-empted real interest, but slowly being won over by the children and eachother. The children are endearing, and helpful, and give foreshadowing/enticement about how great and amazing the parents were individualy and how happy they were together. Jaune and Velvet both get confidence coaching, but also find support in eachother in enduring the kids.

Shenanigans turn serious when Cinder catches wind of things and has the Black Fang kidnap the children, hoping to exploit their knowledge of the future to prevent her defeat. The kids aren't treated nicely, because by virtue of being half-faunus they're treated as race-traitors. Jaune and Velvet go parental in the rescue attempt, endearing things are endearing. Crisis occurs when one or more of the children gets hurt. They could only survive if they could back (forward) in time to future medical care, but without a future, they have no future.

Neither Jaune or Velvet want this to happen, having come to accept the future kids, and so resolve to do the do in order to save them. It could be an uncomfortable/unwanted thing- forced together without love in order to save someone's life- but it isn't. Jaune and Velvet have come to have interest in eachother, and are willing to not only get together but stay together. Jaune asks Velvet not just to do the deed, but to marry him, and Velvet accepts.

The two kiss, and it's lightning, literally, as time travel from the future occurs. More children come out, to care for and take the wounded kids away- but so does future!Velvet. An extremely sexy bunny who came after the kids, and who has the looks to make jaws drop and almost make Velvet jealous of herself. Jaune is really, really glad Velvet just said yes. Future!Velvet apologizes for the kids misadventures, flirts a bit with Jaune (much to Velvet's actual jealousy), and has a discussion with Velvet- reassuring her that the relationship is sincere and worth having, and not just a matter of having to in order to save a life. Future!Velvet makes another pass at Jaune and Velvet- something about fulfilling a fantasy- but leaves with encouragement for Velvet to have fun. Jaune's given her twelve things to be happy with and appreciate in the future.

Velvet thinks she's talking about children, and is shocked they'd have so many. Future!Velvet was not, though they do, and holds her hands about a foot apart. Velvet;s eyes widen, Future!Velvet makes a dirty joke about the size of carrots, and leaves. Jaune comes over, curious about what they talked about, and Velvet shoots him a certain look and asks if it's a true.

Epilogue

Beacon lunchroom. Jaune and Velvet are together and implied to be having a very happy relationship- and by 'very happy' I mean 'rumors of their sex life are spreading.' Teams CFVY and JNPR are amused and/or fed up with stumbling over them, while RWBY is half-embarrassed and half not-so-secretly curious about the details.

Yang in particular has heard the rumors and wants to know if it's true. Is Velvet a size queen? Velvet and Jaune's blushing gives it away, and Yang jokes about borrowing Jaune for awhile. Velvet, assertive in a way she wasn't at the start, grabs Jaune by the junk and gives the 'this is mine, and this is where I'll get my babies' joke. Yang can have Jaune over her dead body.

Silence falls over the lunchroom like a thunderclap- which there was, and lightning too, as a portal from the future opens. Out stumbles two kids, neither of them faunus but both very much blonde as they proclaim they're hear to help their mother…

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Coeur's Impression:

Initially CF gave this prompt to me, but I gave up on it and gave it back. Much like CF did way-back-when with prostitute Jaune. My reasons for this was simply that I despise (with unbridled passion) the whole time-travelling kids trope.

Despise it. (I'll even include my reasoning below if anyone is interested).

So I'm actually quite thankful this is so short, and also thankful it went for more comedy than drama. The premise is so ridiculous (and to me) flawed - that I wouldn't have been able to take it seriously as a full and serious story.

At the very least CF brings up the same time-travelling problems I raised in my post on why I didn't want it, rather than doing as most authors do and just ignore those plotholes.

Velvet was a nice touch, if only for a bit of randomness. Ultimately there isn't much to say though, as it's really short. It has a black moment, the structure is there - it works, and would be a light and breezy read that raises a few smiles.

For what is designed as a short story in itself? It checks out. Good job.

\- Why coeur hates time travelling kids - (post from Coeur to CF)

Jaune's time travelling children. Yeah, I just hate those fics too much to try and write one really. If I did, then I'd honestly make it brutally cruel - like the kids accidentally f*** it up and paradox themselves out of existence. Thing is, by coming back... they sort of force him to be with one person - otherwise if he doesn't, he kills them. So they either know who it is - in which case Jaune's free choice is gone. Or they forget (terrible plot hole) or kids from multiple wives and multiple futures come back (cringy cliche - and also terrible pressure on Jaune again).

It just impinges on free choice too much for me, and I'd make it a fic around that - which would mean some cruel stuff. Like Jaune ranting that he isn't ready to be a father, and upsetting them. Or that they aren't HIS kids, to the same effect. And maybe even feeling so pressured that he decides not to have kids and they just... fade away, killed.

It's cruel, but he never had the choice and shouldn't be forced to do something that might be against his will just to support people who he doesn't know. Sure he might come to love his kids in time, but not without any build-up.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Le gasp! 20 minutes total, including writing, and at just about 1000 words? I must be sick, I should- oh, wait, I actually tend to do my mega-fills when I am under the weather or just plain tired.

(No, really. When I'm tired, I ramble more.)

So this prompt was actually intended for tripe week- the 'uber horrible cliche concepts'- but I was tired of waiting and wanted to make Coeur suffer.

I actually agree with Coeur that time-traveling children is a borderline exploitative hookup mechanic. The only time-traveling children plot I've ever really enjoyed playing was the one of Fire Emblem: Awakening, in which the children are revealed _after_ the parents are hooked up. The only RWBY fanfic of Jaune's time-traveling children I've enjoyed is 'How I Made You Meet Mom' by PhantomGalaxy13- which has one child, with mixed memories of who the mother is, and so still doesn't trap Jaune to the 'right' parent. Because, like Coeur says, it's practically entrapment with a bit of existential life-and-death coercion.

Which is why I wanted a parody of it. Just to make light of how it's used to either secure the writer's preferred pairing (why bother writing the initial courtship when you can just claim it works from the start) or justify some harem scenario (it's not cheating if all the children are from different timelines!1!11!). A quick summary doesn't do it justice, but there would have been a lot of dirty jokes as well, and enough pointing holes at the time travel paradoxes that it's not meant to be taken seriously.

I used Velvet because... well, she was convenient. 'Breeding like rabbits' was the obvious joke, the cliche of the Jaune-Velvet pairing over assisting with bullying seemed appropriately childish, and Velvet's underused. Having gotten a few more lines of dialogue and characterization from her in Season 3, I almost feel comfortable writing something for her. Dat Camera... so many possibilities there.

Anyways, that's that. Really just wanted to knock on the time-traveling children cliche a bit. Brutally miserable deconstruction could have worked, but I preferred comedy.

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	58. Papa Jaune

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt:None

Coeur's Notes- I cheated! Sort of… you see we're in a weird situation where we planned to release Re-do week. But College Fool didn't have the re-dones done – **SHAME, SHAME!**

Except that… uh… CF also had loads of generic stories done, which I didn't… heh… heh...

 **SHAME! SHAME!**

So we threw together some old fills, realised they were all about parents, shrugged and went "parental week?" "Sure?" "yeah?"

CF did give me some prompts for it, but since this was super-short time, I decided to do my own instead. So I gave a prompt to myself. Hence the cheating...

 **SHAME, SHAME!**

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Prompt: Jaune goes back in time, except that he goes a little further than anticipated.

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Initial Thoughts: (To my own prompt, no less) – I already had an idea for this, but even as I write it another came to me… aw man, imagine if this had CINDER as the main female, instead of… well, you'll see.

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Title: Papa Arc

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Summary: Jaune was told it would send him back. Back far enough to change things, and make sure the world ended differently. He supposed in some strange way that was true, though his plans for saving the past sure hadn't included early parenthood. Especially not to one of the most difficult women he'd ever had to deal with.

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This story might have a few Professor Arc vibes at times, though by this point I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. Ironically also, the backstory for this will be pretty damn big, but a lot of it will be handled through timeskips. There's a lot of text here however, as to explain the meanings and things that would be shown.

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 **Intro Arc:**

Jaune is in a post-apocalyptic Vale, the result of what happened when Cinder's plan went into fruition, and then failed. Grimm have slowly worked their way across the world, and Remnant is pretty much kaput.

Jaune recollects on what has happened, but is eventually pulled down by Grimm and killed. As he dies he wishes he could have changed things, and that if only he had another chance to make things right.

 **First Arc:**

Jaune gets his second chance, waking up in an abandoned alleyway of a town he only just recognises. There is the initial confusion where he doesn't know where he is, is mistaken for a homeless bum, etc… but eventually he manages to get hold of a newspaper and check the date – seeing that he's gone back in time.

This Arc revolves around Jaune trying to make survival in a world where he has no ID or history a priority. Initial attempts at legitimate jobs go poorly, and with the war with the WF a recent memory in people's minds, suspicion is high.

Jaune eventually finds work as an illegal pit fighter, and even then, he only gets in as a bearded teen called "Hei" helps him (Junior as a 19-year old). Jaune is able to earn enough to get by and rent a small apartment, and has a budding friendship with Junior, who dreams of retiring with a nightclub.

The arc comes to an end as Jaune has rented his apartment for the first day and is out shopping for food. His process is halted by a WF-rights protest gone wrong, wherein rocks are thrown by the human crowd. The racism is much higher than canon, due to the leftover hate from the war. The protest descends into madness and he is caught in it, though able to protect himself easily enough. It's not the same for others however, and when Jaune sees a young child hit by a rock – and then knocked to the floor – soon to be crushed by the press of bodies? He can't sit idly by, and rushes in to help the child.

The police arrive and start responding with over-the-top force, mostly against the faunus, and Jaune realises he needs to flee and get help for the child. A local hospital rejects him, but throws a medkit at him – and he angrily returns home to treat the kid.

It's not until he peels the bloodied hair back however, and discovers two small ears, that he realises just who it is. For better or worse, he's found one of his old friends – Blake Belladonna, a mere nine-year-old kitten.

 **Second Arc:**

The Second Arc revolves around Jaune and Blake getting to know one another. Blake is initially frightened and suspicious when she wakes up, and only allows Jaune near her when he hands her a knife she could use against him. He doesn't bother to point out that thanks to his aura it's useless – and that he could disarm her anyway, but the safety she feels from it gives her the confidence to let him treat her.

Blake is revealed as an incredibly suspicious and quiet child, someone who has been abused into silence much of her life. It's only recently with the WF that she has found her voice, but even that hasn't been long enough. She silently accepts his treatment, but when he's done asks what he's going to do to her. Not with her, _to_ her. Jaune realises that she fully expects him to hurt her, knife or no.

Jaune tries to explain that he won't do anything, but it falls on deaf ears. She nods, but it's clear there's not an ounce of trust or belief within her. When he asks about her parents, there are none. Her friends, there are none. Where she lives? Wherever she can find. Short answers each time, until eventually he says she will need to stay with him until she's treated. He isn't willing to let her go out and get hurt.

So begins an early Arc of Blake and Jaune trying to find neutral ground. Or rather, Jaune trying to break into her shell. She's quiet and submissive, doing whatever he asks in some cases – but flinching in others. There's clear indications of child abuse affecting her actions, and it's shocking to him to see how different she is from her adult self.

Some tentative bridges are made through Jaune cooking for her, but the first real sign of trust is when Jaune is watching the television and she nervously enters the room. It's a tense moment, and even though it's clear there's still issues, there is a spark of hope when she is willing to sit on the small couch beside him. Stiff, uncertain – and with space between them. But beside one another nonetheless.

It's the start of something, though neither really understands what it is. But as time goes on and Blake becomes clearly healed, both are waiting for the other to leave. Blake expects to be thrown out at any moment, but until then is determined to fill up on food and a warm bed. Similarly, Jaune is surprised that she didn't make a run for it the moment he let his guard down, but doesn't like the idea of letting one of his friends be homeless on the streets.

 **Third Arc**

A week turns into two, and then three. It becomes clear to both of them that no one is forcing anyone out of the apartment, and the relationship between Jaune and Blake is shown to be a little warmer. Though not by much. Jaune continues his job as a pit-fighter to earn money for them, and when he returns to the apartment Blake is still there – sometimes trying to cook herself food – sometimes struggling to read newspapers by the TV.

Though a mature child through necessity, it's revealed that Blake has trouble reading, it's not something that was ever taught enough – and Jaune, remembering her love of books, decides to be the one to teach her.

That's essentially the end of the past arc as it were, and brings on a series of short time-skips showing how they grow up together. Things are always tough in the skips, Blake always seems warm to him – but it's never love and there's always an undercurrent of fear.

Time-skip points include;

1) Jaune bringing Blake to a bookstore once she can read, and telling her he will buy her ten books that she wants. There's a bit where she has no idea what to get, and spends at least three hours there browsing. Jaune is bored, but remains patient. Finally she chooses, but when the owner refuses to sell to animals she backs off. Jaune threatens the man into accepting it, but it's clear the words have hurt Blake. He drags her from the store by her hand, and there's a small moment where she steps a little closer to him as they go through the people outside, using him to hide from all the stares.

2) Another where Blake is sick and Jaune is trying to treat her. It's meant to show the first official time Blake trusts Jaune with her health and does what he says. She also shows increased trust by falling asleep on his arm while he is reading one of her stories to her.

3) Blake meeting back up with the White Fang. A little older (11) she meets with some of her old friends by chance at a rally. They recognise her and ask about her health and seem surprised that she found somewhere to stay. Recognising the risk to Jaune, who she realises she still doesn't know much about, she lies and says she is with a faunus family. The WF invite her to their latest rally and she agrees.

4) Blake is 13, and Jaune is patching Blake up after another rally gone badly. Bruised and bleeding, but defiant – Blake responds poorly to Jaune's attempts to convince her against attending any more. She rants about the injustice of the current Government and how they are being repressed and treated unfairly, just because of their heritage. Jaune rolls his eyes as she yelp – disinfectant over a particularly nasty cut. She has her aura unlocked from him earlier in life, but that still doesn't stop her taking damage when she is hit by so many rocks. No resolution is reached, though Blake shows her own little bit of racism, saying that all humans are the same. Jaune points out that he is a human, but she just rolls her eyes and says he doesn't count. It's a little hypocritical of her, but he isn't able to get that across.

5) Blake's 14th birthday with Jaune, wherein the two are alone and eating – chatting, etc… it's the moment at which Jaune brings up how Blake has been living with him for a long time. Initially she's quiet and worried, thinking he wants her to move out – but essentially it's an adoption moment. Blake is thrilled, even as she tries to hide it, and barely even notices that he wants to take her last name.

6) Disaster strikes as Jaune finds militant WF propaganda while cleaning Blake's room. It shocks him, despite that it shouldn't, because he somehow thought the differences in her upbringing would have removed that. That she would be happy with him and see that she didn't need to risk her life like that. It's damaged ego and feelings that causes Jaune to poorly confront his daughter, and it causes a huge argument between them. It ends when Blake takes her weapon and says she's going to make a difference – and there's no way she's going to let him stop her. "I'm your father!" "No! You're just a man who picked me up off the street!" The door slams shut as Jaune holds his forehead angrily. He's sure she will come back. She doesn't.

7) A final timeskip, at which point things are brought up to canon Beacon beginning time. Jaune is hurt from a recent fight, they're still going on – despite that Hei has moved on and advises Jaune to do the same. He needs the money however, and despite having a nebulous background now, thanks to a few favours Hei pulled in for him, it's still not enough for him to act as a Hunter – too many checks on those, and fighting is all he knows. His thoughts are interrupted however by a ringing on the door, despite it being late at night. Jaune goes to answer and is surprised to see Blake, he hasn't seen her in three years – it's raining, she's soaked, and though he knows she would never admit it, not all the moisture on her cheeks is from the rain. She tries to say something, to explain, but nothing comes out. Ironically Jaune doesn't need any though, he knows exactly what has happened due to the future. In this case it enables him to make the move he needs though, simply shushing her as he pulls her into the house and hugs her, stripping off some of her soaking outer layers before wrapping her up in one of his dressing gowns. She doesn't ever say anything, but keeps clinging to him as he puts her to bed – ultimately reading until she falls asleep. Before she does she mumbles something about dad.

Okay, that's a long-ass backstory, but it's necessary… shit.

* * *

Canon Plot.

 **1**

Blake is getting ready to board the Bullhead for Beacon, and Jaune is making sure she has everything. It's a very typical scene, with him playing mother and father at once – asking if she has everything, has she got plenty of socks – toiletries? She _will_ call often, right? Blake rolls her eyes but answers each one and it's suggested from how she acts that while she finds it humiliating, she still enjoys being looked after in that way. Her personality is pretty much the same as canon, except for some subtle differences, which are revealed over the story.

For meta purposes however, I'll list those now. Blake is defensive of her father, both from any criticism and from any people who show an interest in him. Almost selfish and possessive, she doesn't like the idea of anyone getting in the way of what they have.

She is also in private a real daddy's girl, yet also an independent teen. It causes strange clashes that come across as Tsundere to her team, but only around Jaune. Examples include hugging him really tightly, then getting ruffled when he tries to hug her back. Complaining about how he's always treating her like a child, yet obviously enjoying when he rubs her head or pampers her. In a dark way it's meant to represent dependence, yet early on it's played for comedy (later people can slowly start to see the truth however).

Either way, Blake goes off to Beacon – and for the most part, that's her out of the story. Mostly this works from Jaune's PoV.

 **2**

Jaune seeks to relax once Blake is gone and everything is sorted, but is surprised by the doorbell going off. It's actually Ozpin and Glynda, though he pretends not to recognise them – and they ask if they may have a word with him. He doesn't really want to, but it's clear he won't get away if he tries – and it would just raise suspicion.

The talk is about Blake, and while initially Jaune plays the defensive card ("Do you have this conversation with every parent?" "Is there something you find interesting with my daughter?") When Ozpin drops the WF bomb, he goes silent. It's a test apparently, Ozpin points out that clearly Jaune knew, he wished to ascertain as much.

Jaune realises the danger. That he is implicitly labelled with the same brush as Blake, but he still defends her – saying that she doesn't want to be part of that life anymore. Thankfully they aren't there to arrest her, and just want assurances as to her personality and whether she will adapt to a team. Essentially it's a character test, a precaution considering her dangerous past.

Despite that, Jaune can't help but notice Glynda's frown at him as they leave, and he knows them well enough from the future. Every move Ozpin makes has two reasons, if not sixteen. They wanted to find about Blake, yes – but more than that, they didn't trust him, and it was possibly a warning.

It could be something to ignore, because as long as he doesn't do anything wrong – he has nothing to fear. But it also brings back the knowledge of what is going to happen. Jaune hasn't really changed anything, has he? He's given Blake a better life, but everything is the same – and will end the same way.

And that can't be allowed to happen. He has a daughter now, and isn't going to let all that shit happen to her.

3

Jaune seeks out Hei, stepping through his old friend's ruined club even as workers and builders work on fixing it. Hei sees him from the corner of one eye, shouting some last abuse to the builders as he draws Jaune into a back room. The meeting establishes their relationship, and it's clear from the way Hei sighs and collapses into a chair that he trusts Jaune. The two share a quick drink, bitch about teenagers who can't hold their drink, but otherwise are on good terms.

There's even a brief moment where Melanie and Miltia stick their heads in to say hi, and Jaune tries to ignore their poorly hidden flirting. He knows it's fake, they love the way he clams up – even if he doesn't blush obviously.

Jaune wants information on a black haired woman dressed in red, who might be working a friend of Hei's – Roman Torchwick.

Hei is nervous, but due to the long history with Jaune (who earned enough in fights that Hei was even able to attain his dream of being a Nightclub owner – even if it went dirty and criminal soon after…) that he agrees to help Jaune.

In a way, that is the crux of the plot from this point on. Jaune acting against Cinder in efforts to undermine her, while being a good father to Blake – and keeping her in the dark over it. There are regular moments, sometimes played for comedy, where Blake calls Jaune and they chat – despite that Jaune is right at that moment doing something highly illegal and dangerous.

4

Jaune's first step is to try and locate Roman. And initially speaking, this goes poorly. Hei's intel is good, but always one step behind, and there's little they can do about it since Roman is so used to hiding his movements.

It's actually Melanie who suggests a solution to the problem, in that they're trying to go after the head of the snake – when they should grab the tail first (King Taijitu notwithstanding). Torchwick is good at hiding, but the White Fang goons he has allied with are not.

They just need a solid lead. And fortunately Hei has heard about a large dust shipment coming in.

The docks incident is mirrored and confused due to the interference of a third party. Blake and RWBY are able to reconcile, even as a mysterious figure drives Torchwick off. He vanishes however before RWBY can find out any more about him.

The next day Jaune is visited by Glynda Goodwitch, who doesn't go so far as to accuse him of anything, but makes him aware that Blake was missing from school for two days, just to see his reaction. Jaune answers as he is expected to, with concern and just a little bit of anger. Glynda leaves, but warns him that his daughter is watched closer than most, and can't continue with these little unscheduled outings.

Less than an hour later there is another knock on his door – and lo and behold it's the errant daughter, with team in tow. Introductions go all round, it's mostly from Yang's PoV – who muses at the strange dichotomy Blake shows in loving and hating the parental attention in equal measure. When Jaune reveals that he's been visited by their Professor though, Yang can't help but stir the pot – and takes subtle joy in watching her aloof partner be told off by their parent, ears drooping and feet fidgeting with one another as she accepts the scolding.

There's comedy to be had in Yang whispering that her father's pretty hot when they leave, which leads to a recurring tease theme wherein Yang pretends to be head over heels for Jaune (though she genuinely isn't). Blake reacts like a cat dropped in a bath, equal parts cock-blocking a romance that doesn't exist, and complaining that Yang is hitting on her dad.

5

Jaune, Hei and the Malachites continue their campaign against the WF, dressing Jaune up as some kind of badass Hunter with a mask as they hit locales. Warehouses, meeting grounds – none are spared as the Masked Hunter dismantles the White Fang Operation in Vale. Soon enough Jaune starts to see results, as WF operatives are interspersed with stronger guards. He feels watched, and at one point even notices a green-haired figure slipping away after a fight. Cinder is starting to take notice, and as far as he's concerned that's a good thing.

Better her attention on him than his friends.

Conflicting with that however, is the attention from Glynda Goodwitch, who starts to become suspicious of him and do background checks on him. It becomes a race between time for Jaune, his attempts to track down and stop Cinder – while also dealing with the occasionally interrogative meetings with Miss Goodwitch.

Combine that with visits from Blake, who pops by on the weekends, and is becoming increasingly concerned at how ragged her father looks each time she sees him? The balancing act becomes difficult to maintain.

There's the robot meeting as per canon in this, except that Jaune is there in his masked Hunter garb too, and is seen once again by RWBY – who try to find out more about him by catching him. He manages to escape, but it's a close call when Glynda appears, the two have a brief fight – but Jaune is able to cause an explosion and escape in the smoke.

6

The charade couldn't last forever though, and it goes nuclear when General Ironwood arrives in Vale. It's assumed (by Jaune) that Ironwood met with Ozpin and the rest of the Ozpin-illuminati, and found out about Jaune that way. With his typical manner of dealing with things, he of course went for the direct approach and no doubt seeks to capture Jaune.

That would be bad, especially since Jaune knows full well that would mean a quick assassination ala Neo.

He abandons the house, becoming a fugitive as he escapes into the city.

The next day his image is posted around the town, labelled only as Jaune ? – rather than Belladonna. This leads to RWBY inclusion as Blake freaks out angrily, while the rest of her team tries to understand things. The PoV shift flicks here to Blake, rather than Jaune – leaving his fate a complete mystery to the readers.

7

So begins a mini-RWBY arc, as they seek to find out more about Blake's father and, if possible, help the two reunite. It's clandestine of course, especially when Miss Goodwitch makes it clear Blake is not to seek out "the man who raised her" – "you mean my father? You can call him what you want, but he's my father."

This leads to RWBY clashing with the WF naturally, while also delving into more of the past of Jaune Belladonna. How he took Blake's name, how there's no record of him before then, etc… it's all very suspicious but Blake won't accept any of that, and when Yang questions her – Blake explains. Her dad knew all about her being in the White Fang, she could tell. Yet when she came back he never demanded that she explain, he never asked what she did, because it didn't matter to him. Well this doesn't matter to her either. He could be a murderer for all she cares, he's her father and she loves him.

Eventually the chase leads them to Junior, who gives a small bit of the game away by recognising Blake on the spot, and calling the Malachite sisters away – saying this is _his_ daughter, and he isn't going to hurt his bud's kid. Though he might hurt her partner if she doesn't keep that hormonal blonde girl in check.

Blake manages to pry Yang off him a moment later. A little is revealed about Jaune's past – mostly the pit fighter angle, which Yang thinks is "awesome" and "sexy" (mostly to mess with Blake), but which the faunus girl is actually really worried about. Hei says he hasn't been in it for a while, but that he needed the money – especially when he had two mouths to feed. Hei gives them details about it, but won't rat Jaune out – even if they threaten to kill him.

They don't. Blake won't let them hurt her father's friend, and they leave soon after.

8

RWBY go to the pit-fighter area a few days later, sneaking off after some classes and some more news reports about the hunt for the blond fugitive. Blake is still a little shocked about her father's past as a fighter – and it only gets worse when she sees all the burly and dangerous looking men fighting in the ring. Criminals, betting rings, prostitutes… it's not something she can imagine her peaceful and loving father ever being a part of.

The rest of the team is supportive and reasoning. Weiss points out that money is money, and that desperate men will go to any lengths. It doesn't make him bad, per se. The effect is sort of ruined as she pinches her nose shut as a fighter walks by, but the intent is there at least.

The fights go on, and it's revealed that Blake and the team are looking for some sort of organiser to question. When they find the guy they interrogate him over Jaune – which leads to a disaster moment when this reveals them as Huntresses and (assumed) law-bringers. It's an all out riot. People are hurt, he place is trashed, RWBY chases the organiser through the streets even as gunfire goes on everywhere.

They catch him eventually and find out that Jaune has been back – and in fact was there the last two days to earn cash, but as Blake initially feels relieved that she can find him – the relief is short lived as they return to find police busting the ring. RWBY's interference drew attention to it, and got it shut down.

RWBY as a team is kinda okay with that, but Blake can't help but worry that she's done more harm than good, especially now that her father's lost a source of income and safety.

9

Time passes and the search continues on both ends. The Atlas military fill the streets and there is an increased guard at Beacon. Blake knows she is being watched, and has to deal with constant meetings with Ozpin and Goodwitch, and occasionally harsher ones with Ironwood.

She co-operates enough not to be in trouble, but gives only useless info about his personality, and her childhood with him.

The missions also come around at this point, and although Blake is reluctant, they are forced on the MT Glenn trip again, mainly as an attempt to remove her from Vale lest she interfere with the search.

The Breach occurs as standard, though with some more late night conversation about her father. Blake finds an unlikely ally in Oobleck, who is willing to listen and consider her words, without jumping to conclusions. When Ruby goes missing though it's business as usual – and train chase takes place once more.

It ends differently however, when el masked bandito (Jaune, naturally) appears in the final fight with Roman, knocking the man down right as Blake enters the room. There's a tense moment where she holds her weapon, the two looking at one another, before she poses the suspicion she's been feeling for a while.

"Dad?"

Surprise-surprise, it is, and the two have an awkward reunion. Blake is thrilled to see him safe, but suddenly worried about what that means. She was so focused on finding him before anyone else did that she didn't put any thought into what she would do when she did – and it shows. Matters are made worse when Jaune says they need to get rid of Torchwick, and when she says he's already unconscious, Jaune shakes his head and says permanently.

It's a shocking moment for Blake, who is unsure what her father is doing – he's never been the warrior or the fighter to her, and when he draws a sword to kill Roman she reacts without thinking – attacking him.

The fight is weak. Jaune won't hurt her, and Blake has all the dust from Weiss, allowing her to push him back. She wants to stop him from making a mistake that he'll regret, and when he says this won't be one he regrets – she says that's what she thought in the WF.

Ultimately it goes on until Jaune begins to weaken. On the run, low on food – he's exhausted and can't bring himself to take any of the openings Blake leaves, as they're all so serious it would kill her. In the end he is beaten down and knocked out – and once the Breach occurs – arrested by General Ironwood along with Torchwick.

10

It's at this point that the POV flicks back to Jaune exclusively, and it's a disjointed one. In a jail cell and recovering, he has brief snippets of interviews and interrogations. Goodwitch, Ironwood, Ozpin – he faces them all, giving little away as he knows they won't believe him. He tries to reveal Cinder, and it's clear they take notice. But when he says she will strike at Amity they dismiss it, too well defended – too obvious. This Queen won't be that foolish.

Ironwood's arrogance is his downfall, and it's made worse by the fact that Ozpin, the only one who might have believed Jaune, is having his power-base eroded.

The meetings with Blake are worse, few as they are.

She has to be escorted in, and she's with guards every time, but it's clear she's stricken with equal parts guilt and sad resolution. She's certain he'll be free in a few months, and that it's for the best. He, in turn, is angry and betrayed – worried beyond belief since he knows a few months will mean their deaths. They don't reconcile at all sadly, and there's even a suggestion that Blake believes they never will.

On her final visit, before the Vytal Festival she says she always hoped he would be there to watch her and cheer her on, that loves him, even if he doesn't love her anymore.

She leaves as Jaune slams a fist against the wall in anger, wondering what the hell he is supposed to do.

11

The next time Jaune awakes, it's to alarms and screams. The ship is being attacked by Neo, no doubt in an effort to rescue Torchwick. The guards by Jaune are worried, but disciplined, fearing that he will be released too if they leave him.

He tries to reason with them, to little avail, even as the explosions get closer. Ultimately Jaune loses his rag when the door opens and he sees Neo. She engages the guards and kills them with ease, before smirking and coming up to Jaune's cell.

It's a tense moment. He's trapped, an easy target for her. Luckily for him some gunfire has her hopping away, as two guards rush into the room and open fire. Neo rolls her eyes and rushes over to them, but to everyone's surprise is pushed back. One guard goes in for a solid kick, as the other weaves beneath the leg and slams a hand into the girl's solar plexus. Neo is caught off-guard, and as more explosions go on upstairs, snarls and vanishes.

The two guards walk up to Jaune's cell and open it, and it's not until he gets a good look at their face and they call him cutey, that he realises who it is.

Fucking Hei… he loves that man. The Malachites manage to get him out under the guise of a prisoner transport, but as they are flying over Amity to freedom, Jaune asks them to drop him off.

There's a moment of argument. Where they call him insane, tell him that Hei's arranged an evac, even a safe haven in Vacuo where Jaune won't ever have to worry about the police again. Fake papers, money – a life.

Jaune just laughs, rubs them on the head and asks them to tell Hei he's sorry, and that he's a good best buddy. But Jaune has a life, and more than that he has responsibilities. A daughter. The Malachites sigh and give him a kiss each, right as they open a door above Amity – where combat is going on below.

(Yeah I'm behind canon, so I'm just going to assume a big climactic battle).

Jaune leaps out the Bullhead – a landing strategy reminiscent of the first time he came to Beacon. The melee below is wild, made worse by the fact that many of the robotic guards from Ironwood have been hacked and taken over by Cinder (through the CCT virus way back in season 2). Living soldiers are dedicated to evacuating civilians, in many places giving their lives to stem to tide of Atlas robots. Meanwhile, those who can fight are doing so all over the stands.

Jaune has eyes for none of them, for he can see Cinder – demolishing her way through Hunters and Soldiers alike. It's a clash of the titans. All the revenge he wanted, all the misery she caused – not just in his old life, but now this one too? It's bullshit, and he won't have it.

The two clash in an epic battle, Jaune smashing aside fireballs as he attacks – her recognising his tattered outfit as the one who ruined so many of her plans. The melee is brutal and fierce, but Jaune isn't at his best. Hurt, poorly treated – hungry, he's weak and it shows. Before long Cinder is able to knock him down, even as she is injured herself.

Out of aura, bleeding and partially on fire – Jaune's day is not a particularly good one, and as Cinder limps over to stand above him, it's with a sad finality that he realises it won't get any better. Cinder's arm lances down, driving his own sword deep into his stomach – pinning him to the floor. Before she can draw it out however, there is a furious scream as something slams into her.

Blake strikes like a meteor, utilising her semblance in ways we kinda wish the show would – attacking, blinking back and attacking once more whenever Cinder incinerates the clone. She strikes from every angle, over and over with unrelenting force as the tired woman is forced back. It almost looks like it will be enough to stop her, but for Cinder screaming and sending a wave of fire all around her – forcing Blake back.

Before she can attack however her head snaps back, stumbling as something strikes her with incredible force. There's another gunshot, and she is knocked back again – Ruby walking forward while shooting again and again.

Spikes of ice rain in from the other side, even as Cinder melts them in the air – only to stumble as she takes another dust round from the sniper. Blake dives in again during the chaos, punishing blows, crippling strikes – the faunus is furious and showing it. And as Cinder tries to counter-attack, it's only to find Yang holding her arm back – before slamming a fist into her spine.

Jaune doesn't see any more however, head drifting backwards as he falls unconscious.

12

The final scene is Jaune waking up injured in a hospital bed, a familiar weight by his side. It's the Beacon infirmary, and Blake is asleep on his chest, one hand resting across him as she has her head nestled under his arm. He's weak and tired, but not hand-cuffed, which is a good sign.

There is a huff as Goodwitch makes herself apparent, explaining that after the way he acquitted himself at Amity, the Headmaster was able to push for some leniency from the Council. General ironwood was firmly against it, but after the debacle with the androids – his stay in Vale had to come to a… diplomatically early end.

"I'm free then?"

In a sense. Goodwitch explains that Jaune is to be registered as a Hunter, and will have extensive community service – effectively missions at minimum pay, but yes, he isn't facing time in a jail somewhere.

Blake wakes up at that moment, realising he's awake as she hugs him. She doesn't cry, she's too big for that (her words) but she does sniffle and hold onto him longer than necessary, hiding her face in his neck. Jaune, for his part, simply rolls his eyes and rubs her head, wondering why his daughter has to be so confusing.

RWY come in to see it, there's general niceness as they thank Jaune for helping them and explain that they were able to distract Cinder just long enough for others to come and help them. It wasn't 4v1 at the end, more like 20v1 when the other people saw them fighting.

"Cinder _Fell"_ Yang puns, to the groans of all "off the edge of Amity – so nothing to worry about there."

When Jaune asks if they're sure she's dead Goodwitch confirms it, saying that they have… external ways… of confirming her death, but that even beyond that – she found the body. "Let's just say Miss Fall's landing strategy could have used work."

Everything ends with Jaune laying back and sighing in relief, even as Yang makes a comment about whether there's room for another under that blanket. Jaune's sigh turns tortured as his daughter gets into an argument on top of his injured frame. The two girls going at it over stupid teasing even as Goodwitch waves and locks him in with them.

End

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C.F.'s Reaction:

6000 words? Join the darkside, Coeur.

This is the 'problem' with longer summaries- no matter how much you have, you keep wanting more to fill in the holes and flesh things out. Hence why I keep getting into mega-fills. The more you fill in, the more absences sting, even if you'd hopefully do them in an actual writing.

If there's a narrative problem here, it's that the time travel is woefully underplayed. I'm of the view that time travel, like an afterlife, is too big of a narrative device to not focus on. When you use things that fundamentally subvert the expectations of reality, the story needs to reflect on them. If someone comes back from the dead, then coming back from the dead needs to be important. If someone goes back in time to fix things, the story needs to show how they try to fix things.

This doesn't happen here.

Jaune goes back in time, wanting to prevent the apocalypse, and proceeds to use his great knowledge and foresight of the future to... be just shy of a thug. I get that the went back in time too far to have relevant knowledge, but there wasn't any indication of a plan or even intent to do something. Jaune goes back in time, struggles to find a job to sustain himself, and... kind of forgets about everything until Blake comes back and reminds him that he cares about the end of the world. At which point he starts from scratch, having apparently not done much in the many years he had. Oops.

Similar thing with Blake's psychological issues of dependency, or Glynda/Ozpin's suspicion. Blake's dependency... never seems to matter, and is never raised, so never heals. Glynda/Ozpin's suspicion comes off as hypocritical. They know exactly what Jaune knows about Blake and the White Fang, and they're the ones letting her into the school. Jaune going by 'Jaune Belladonna' doesn't seem to be anything but a means to change his past, and never crosses the White Fang's radar.

HOWEVER

I still like this as a base concept and general flow. None of these issues are unfillable plot holes. Most of them just need some tweaking, and can be helped with the concept's strong points.

Take the Jaune-Blake parent-child dynamic. Good. Very good. The story wouldn't work without it- so why not make it the reason Jaune works? Instead of 'Jaune intends to fix things, then forgets about it with Blake,' why not have have Blake be the reason Jaune wants to fix things? Like, that he's so traumatized/burned out/fatalistic about the Apocalypse that he gives up and barely goes forward on momentum. Blake gives him reason to care, he starts to build himself up again- until she runs away, at which point he falls into depression and doesn't care again. At which point she returns, and he cares again, and so starts his 'fix the future' plan much delayed. During which Blake herself can see the effect she has on him- coming back to a ruined house and a ruined man, and knowing that he collapsed without her when she ran away.

This sort of mutual reliance- mutual dependence- could help them both develop as characters over the story. Throwing up the White Fang issue as something big and important can also help. Say that Blake's possessive/protectiveness is a consequence of her running away. She's possessive because she discarded but regained and never wants to lose again. She's protective because she worries- and maybe heads to Beacon again so soon because she's afraid the White Fang will follow her/find Jaune. There could be a bit of dependence there, in which she needs him close (the visits), but also keeps him safe from afar. Also a perfect justification for the obsession to kick in when Jaune disappears, and for fear of the White Fang hunting him to motivate earlier plots.

Emphasizing/allowing flaws for both of them allows character development through healing. Ultimate healing for both of them comes as they're able to act without the other. Jaune is able to act against Cinder without needing Blake as a morality pet motivator (not giving up even after she stops him from killing Roman), while Blake's healing could be... I dunno, maybe letting Jaune hook up with someone? Seriously- it'd be a valid character growth. Plus, DILF-Jaune?

Anyways, these are just examples. Point is, these are the sort of things that a good Beta/sounding board can help you with. Take an unpolished idea, acknowledge the flaws, and suggest solutions. The fill isn't great- but the concept could be.

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Coeur's Reflection:

It has potential, but I hate doing long summaries like this, because in the end they bring up more plot holes than they plug. What happened to Roman, Neo? Did Blake feel OOC? Probably not, considering she spent 8 years living with jaune – that's a lot of time to change, but whatever.

It's a little disjointed, and if it were ever taken further, could use some sitting down to iron through it. It's creased, with a lot of kinks that need to be worked out.

But there is potential there for something, which is perhaps as much as I can ask from a fill. I'm not as confident on it as I have been on others, or some coming up for re-do week that I have already done! But even so, I wouldn't call it one of my worst either.

Middling, at best.

I'd have liked to explore the odd friendship between Hei, Jaune and the Malachites a little more too, though not for romance. I wanted this to be a parental fic, as per the theme.

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Coeur's Special Writer Thoughts: On the Topic of Conflict

There was a noticeable mistake made by me here, and I want to really explain it for people who might be thinking of writing their own fics, or even original stories. Conflict is a driving force for any story, but how do we find it or identify it?

To me there's two types of conflict - Conflict of Character, and Conflict of the Physical. Now the latter, conflict of the physical world is east to explain. It's stuff like war, famine, physical things - and while it works and you should have some. Conflict of Character is more important.

A simple explanation that i use with my writing students, is that it's when there is a conflict between any of the following things.

Desires, Duty, Training, Upbringing, Necessity, Core Values, Law, Objectives.

So let's throw some examples out. Imagine a soldier in the army who wishes to do good and make changes. He, or she, comes across a bombed out hospital with trapped civilians inside. But the war is still on, and their orders are to assist the front line.

There is a conflict here between Desire (help the people), and Training (follow orders) and duty (follow orders). This is a conflict of character.

Here's some more examples, taken from one of my main stories Professor Arc. Professor Arc is full of conflicts of character for Jaune - it's why the fic works so well. Here are two examples, that are relatively non-spoiler.

Jaune is a teacher, and as such has the responsibilities of one. Despite that, he is sexually attracted to many of the girls in Beacon. This is Duty (and Law) clashing with Desire.

Similarly, Jaune wishes to help people and become a Hero - but doesn't have the training to be one. Hence his deception. This is a clash between Desire and Objective (To become a Hunter) and Law and Upbringing. In the end, necessity tips the scales and chapter 1 takes place.

Even beyond that there are little clashes, such as Jaune's increasingly worrying deals with criminal elements - It's Necessity vs Desire, but also Law vs Duty (Does he break the law and do his duty, or abide by the law and not help anyone?)

These are good conflicts, and there's many more.

This fill however, was lacking.

Jaune wants to stop Cinder.  
Jaune wants to raise Blake.  
Jaune wants to Avenge his friends.

All of these goals coincide with one another too well, and there's the problem. That isn't conflict. It's resolution, something nice to have at the end, as he twists his conflict into determination - but not for the full story. So yeah, there's a lot I would change.

But as they say, hindsight is 20 - 20.


	59. Re-Do: Democracy

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt: When Jaune gets his aura, he also gets a conscience- or at least a voice in his head that tells him what he should do.

(Re-do 'Democracy', ch. 5)

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Re-do week  
Chosen Re-write: Democracy (i.e. Twitch plays Jaune)

Initial Reasoning: At the time I chose to write that instead of the original idea, because the original felt too close to From Beyond. In hind-sight it was a mistake to throw it away however, so I'm going to redraft the idea I once had.

Title: Deadly Shadows

Standfirst: Cinder didn't take failure well, and when Roman lost to a fifteen-year-old girl? Well, that was the last straw. Dying alone in an abandoned alley he didn't expect any charity, least of all from a young blond man just about to enter Beacon.

It's worth noting that this story revolves around the idea of a double-life. As such one life will be almost typical Beacon storyline, just with changes as Jaune changes. I don't want to list every such aspect out however. In a full story there would be plenty of school scenes however, with JNPR and RWBY in full.

That would take ages to write in a fill however, and would just keep interrupting the storyline. So just imagine things always happen. Classes, training, chatting – etc… I'll summarise some examples of such at the end.

1 – Jaune is in Vale a few days before Beacon starts. He has been accepted, ala his forged transcripts, but Beacon hasn't started yet officially. What's more, due to him having to spend money on the forgeries, he has run out of his own funds – and has been roughing the last two nights on the streets. There's another two days to Beacon, which he is sure he will manage – but essentially he is homeless. A fault of his own poor budgeting, as he spent too much on hotels and didn't save his limited cash.

While bedding down in an alleyway however he hears a gunshot from nearby, and after a few moments of terror – decides to investigate. There he finds a figure dying in an abandoned playground, laid spread-eagled on the floor in a pool of blood. With no one else around, he approaches the figure – only at the last moment recognising him as the infamous criminal Roman Torchwick.

Roman has been betrayed by his boss for failing a job, killed when he had his back turned after which she took the Bullhead and left. Jaune offers to help, but even he realises it's pointless. Roman is dying, and nothing will stop that.

Roman, however, makes a comment about how he's not looking forward to death. He always figured he'd live forever, and that if there IS an afterlife – then chances are he won't be looking too good going into it. With a quick laugh he asks about Jaune, and when he hears the kid is off to Beacon he says maybe a single but of charity at the end will help grease the palm of whatever God judges him. He reaches over and – using the last bit of aura keeping him alive – unlocks Jaune's.

2 – Jaune has his aura unlocked, but lo and behold – it's not without a cost. Roman's voice and mind have been transferred into Jaune's conscious thoughts. The thief essentially able to talk to him without being heard. Roman is surprised, but pleased, he didn't want to die anyway.  
"You and me kid? We're going to go places."

Problem, is, Jaune doesn't want to go places. He wants to go to Beacon and be a Hero. Roman claims he can help make that happen, especially since he now knows Jaune has no combat skills to speak of. He can train Jaune, make him stronger. After all, the longer Jaune lives – the longer he does too.

During this brief period Roman offers his own theory on what happened. Roman's aura was literally the only thing giving him any life as he died, and to unlock Jaune's he had to put a small amount of aura INTO Jaune. But if that small amount was the last representation of his soul, which left his body to go into Jaune? Well, looks like he piggy-backed along with it.

Jaune and Roman's relationship begins one-sided. Jaune initially sees value in Roman, and when the thief provides by showing Jaune how to access one of his safe-houses, and the money it contains? Well, Jaune is ecstatic – able to get a good hotel, solid food and new clothes. At this stage (in meta terms anyway) Roman is bribing Jaune, showering him with incentives as to why their partnership is a good thing – yet Jaune still fails to take Roman's advice seriously.

Jan 173 – After a few days in the city Beacon begins, and it is very much like canon. Roman advises not helping Ruby, citing her as the reason for his death. But Jaune helps her anyway. Similarly, Roman cautions him on trying to flirt with the Schnee, which he also ignores. Roman basically tries to solve every mistake Jaune makes – and goes ignored for every single one.

Eventually he goes quiet, though Jaune doesn't realise.

When initiation begins and Jaune is flung out however, he suddenly needs Roman's aid – only to find that the thief is less than impressed. What's the point of life if he never gets a say in it? Besides, you're always so sure you can handle things on your own, right?

Jaune begs for aid, and says he will do anything. Roman says he wants a promise from Jaune, a single favour that he Must work towards achieving. And in a panic, the teen agrees. Roman cannot possess Jaune's body, but can control bits of it – like his arms and feet. Basically it's like he takes over, but cannot take the head.

Roman effects a landing strategy, blocks Pyrrha's Javelin, saves Jaune – and as the teen regains control and drops to the floor panting he promises to listen to Roman in the future. The thief agrees, saying they need to be partners but that he still wants his favour. Jaune asks what, only for the voice to almost grin – Revenge.

Initiation occurs similar to standard, with canon teams. There is a difference at the end where Jaune is commanding them against the Deathstalker, in that he works with Roman on strategy – and it ends up with him arranging them like a General. Except that it's clear to Jaune that Roman's strategy is less about fighting and more self-preservation. Roman's battle plan places Jaune in the middle of NPR – who are basically bodyguards for him – but it works and provides a better reason than canon for Jaune's leadership.

Early Beacon is mostly a training segment for Jaune and Roman. Jaune is a wet noodle in a fight, and Roman isn't sure how to change that. But dirty fighting skills, creative combat and plenty of determination are able to turn him into a somewhat capable combatant. Certainly he manages to beat Cardin the first time, though it's a dirty win that gets him rebuked by Glynda. To Roman though, its results that matter, not finesse – and Jaune can't help but agree with that.

The dynamics with JNPR are laid out. Jaune seems more competent in strategy than combat, which leads to the team having more respect for him. Also, because Roman handles his training, Jaune doesn't train with Pyrrha in any way. This means while they are somewhat less close, she is also more into him – as he is also more confident on top of everything else she liked in canon. RWVY he gets along with, and there's even some traded witticisms with Yang – as Roman finds her to be a good game. It's basically Yang and Roman teasing and taunting one another, though Yang never realises of course.

As for Jaune's promise to Roman – he needs to be stronger to manage it, but there are things he can do in the meanwhile. Another trip to one of Roman's safe houses reveals that it is a wreck. Someone has found it and trashed it, and angrily Roman leads Jaune to the next, which isn't ruined fortunately.

They collect some cash and a book of contacts – but are interrupted as goons start surrounding the building – a silver haired teen with them (Mercury). Jaune makes to leave, but Roman says he can't go out dressed as normal as they will see them. Instead Jaune takes one of the spare outfits Roman has in the safe-house, essentially dressing and arming himself as Roman Torchwick.

They fight their way out, beating aside guards and such. Mercury chases and catches him however, getting a decent look under Jaune's hat as they fight. Jaune is knocked about badly and nearly killed. In the end he is kicked off the building they are fighting atop and, low on aura, is hurtling towards the ground.

At the last moment he thinks he sees a flash of pink, before the world seems to shatter in front of his eyes.

4 – Jaune wakes up in a strange room with no doors or windows. He is soon interrupted by a blade at his neck however, when a multi-coloured girl snarls and climbs on the bed – clearly ready to kill him. In shock Jaune speaks the very words Roman does.

"Neo?"

It's enough to make her pause – and after a brief explanation (with him offering proof via way of info) Neo comes to accept that Roman is trapped within Jaune. She huffs and sits next to him, the only sign of peace she will give him.  
Repeating Roman's words Jaune explains about the promise to find Cinder, that she is the one who killed him, Neo nods – and through gestures explains that Cinder is after her too. When Neo found out Roman had been killed she flew into a rage and managed to escape them, but now doesn't know what to do.

The three make an unlikely alliance, deciding that the best way to sort things out is to sabotage Cinder's plans, whatever they might be. Jaune thinks it's a crazy idea, but eventually they come upon a mad plan that just might work. Jaune has the height, the build – and also the equipment of Roman Torchwick. Cinder might know he's dead, but no one else does.

Jaune is to take his place in the underworld, access his contacts, his funds – his very identity, all in the effort to beat Cinder.

There are a few such night missions, Jaune sneaking out after the team falls asleep to go out with Neo and steal from the White Fang. Jaune falls into the role of Roman fairly easily – and even learns to smoke cigars (though he initially hates it). The news reports are all about Roman reappearing after an absence – and Jaune can only laugh in amusement as Ruby and her team talk all about him at breakfasts.

JNPR does begin to notice his absences at night, but Jaune is able to explain them away as training – and since he comes back tired, bruised but pleased – they accept it. (Pyrrha offers to help, but he explains it off, saying that he's the weakest physically and wants to prove himself worthy of them. They accept it, even as they feel he's already worthy).

There's quite a few of these night missions – some against the White Fang, some against Cinder's crew directly. Jaune and Neo even manage to intervene in the dock's incident, showing themselves as they rescue Blake. Of course, RWBY doesn't recognise him, but do act confused the next morning as to why Torchwick saved them and didn't even steal anything.

This leads to a sub-plot where instead of Blake working herself to death to hunt him, she works herself the same over the reports – and comes to the conclusion that Roman is acting AGAINST the White Fang. RWBY is surprised about this, and JNPR sceptical.

However, when Jaune and Neo break up a WF party a few days later – they are surprised to find Team RWBY there as well. Blake seems smugly pleased, while Ruby is pouting – but once things are sorted with the WF, the team allows Jaune and Neo to escape. Jaune plays the Roman card at the end however, insulting Ruby before fleeing, just to push any suspicion off himself.

Jan 175 – Conflict increases as the Vytal Festival approaches, in that Cinder appears within the transfers to the school. Jaune recognises her immediately but knows he isn't ready to face her. It's still a terrifying moment however, especially when she bumps into and meets Ruby.

Initially there is some back and forth between Roman and Jaune over what they should do about it. The stakes are raised since she is so close, and more so because whatever she now plans might affect his friends in some way.

It's taken out of his hands however when he and Mercury a few days later bump into one another. Mercury's eyes widen as he looks into Jaune's face – and the blond attacks before he can say anything, knowing he's been rumbled.

The two fight to the death in an abandoned classroom. Mercury snarls and talks about how he was the one dressed up as Roman, messing up their plans, etc… he even calls Jaune by name, Jaune Arc of Team JNPR. The fight is brutal and harsh, there's no sparring in it – they are each trying to kill one another. Last time it ended with Mercury's victory, but Jaune is a different person now. He is able to win through a final dirty move, slamming a discarded pipe into Mercury's leg when he is knocked down – before strangling Mercury with it – Crocea Mors knocked away.

Jaune freezes as he realises what is actually his first direct kill of another person, thankfully Roman comes to his aid and has him call Neo – who is able to teleport the body away so there won't be any tricky evidence. There is plenty of angst and self-hate, but Roman breaks through to him with cold-hearted reasoning – this is to protect them all, this is what a Hunter sometimes has to do.

As he watches Cinder from a distance he realises that this seems to have an accelerated effect upon her. Like he has made her nervous and thus sped her plans up. That's fine to Roman and Jaune. After all, those who rush make mistakes. The dance comes by and Jaune goes alone, ignoring Pyrrha's less-than-subtle attempts not through cruelty, but because he doesn't want her in the crosshairs of all the stuff going on.

The mission speech comes and goes and RWBY is sent off on their mission. And, like the show, Jaune gets the call from Ruby on his scroll. Jaune is tired, but since Roman is not, he recognises the sounds of fighting – and they decide to investigate.

Jaune dresses in his Roman outfit, knowing that he can't afford to be seen outside on his own so late at night. His team is used to him buggering off for things though, and will let it slide.

The Breach occurs, Roman and Neo seeing the smoke and deciding to check it out.

6 – At the Breach they help to push back some of the Grimm -but are caught off-guard when Cinder attacks him. Emerald works with her to push him back, the two revealing that not only do they know he isn't Torchwick – but that they know exactly who he is. Jaune Arc.

Foolish to think Mercury would have rushed off to face him without reporting his findings. He wasn't that much of a fool, and Cinder heard everything through Mercury's scroll – which he activated during the fight. She was just biding her time, knowing she couldn't afford to kill him in Beacon where there would be so many witnesses.

But out here in Vale, during the breach? He's been a thorn in her side for long enough – even more so than the idiot whose clothes he parades around in.

A fight occurs, Jaune is pushed back until Neo comes in to save him, killing Emerald instantly due to catching her off-guard and being able to teleport in to strike.

Despite that, Cinder pulls out all her powers (and those she took) and is a force to be reckoned with – pushing them both back. Neo is badly hurt, knocked away with blood spilling down her face as she crashes into a nearby building, which seems to collapse on top of her.

Jaune cries out angrily, even as Roman does the same within his head, the two completely united in their rage. Something snaps within Jaune, and when Cinder makes to incinerate him he holds his arms out, generating a great shield before him. It's his semblance, the ability to pour aura outside his body into a shield. But it requires concentration to keep going, something he learns as he tries to move and it breaks, nearly getting him incinerated. He can't move and focus on it, too unused to it since he just received it.

Roman feeds it, saying he will maintain that while Jaune attacks – but that he has one shot, it takes too much aura, and his body is already running on fumes after all the fighting.

Jaune pushes into the inferno as Roman keeps the shield up. Cinder can barely see him due to the heat, and with a final lurch Jaune is able to push through the flames and attack her – cutting across her side and knocking her down.

He pants – checking his scroll, his aura is depleted – like entirely. He's as unarmoured as a normal person, but that's all he needs.  
Jaune calls out to Roman, asking him if he's ready for his vengeance. But receives no answer. Even after he calls again.

It's not until Jaune looks down at his scroll again and sees the blinking light saying 0 aura, that he realises. Roman became a part of him by pushing his aura into Jaune, and piggy-backing along with it. He existed as aura attached to Jaune's aura.

But Roman fed the final bits of his aura into the shield, throwing himself – and his soul – into the flames… to protect Jaune.

Roman is dead now, truly gone.

Cinder climbs up but Jaune exhaustedly kicks her down. There is a pathetic fight, where both are obviously exhausted from extreme aura usage (yes I realise Cinder is OP, just assume she used too much aura on all the fire attacks he spent the last 30 mins dodging) – as the two trade weak attacks and basically grapple in the dirt, she taunts him.

"Do you really think this will change anything?" She asks, "Do you think killing me will be the end of war, of strife? I'm one of many – there are a hundred people just like me who won't hesitate to kill you. If the Grimm don't get you first."

"This isn't about any of that." Jaune grunts as he raises his sword to kill her.

"Then what?"

"This is for Roman."

He swings down, but she grins and deflects it with the last bit of her own aura, spinning into his guard as she generates flames – only to freeze as she is looking down the barrel of Melodic Cudgel, which Jaune holds out in his left hand.

"Checkmate Cindy."

An explosion, it flings him back too, his head cracking on rock as he watches Cinder's dead body crash down, smoking and burning from the explosive red dust shot. He can hear sirens approaching, and realises he'll be arrested now – he hopes his team won't get in trouble, and that they'll forgive him in time.

Someone shouts that they've found Torchwick, and he sees familiar shapes approaching. At the last moment however there is a flash of pink, and what sounds like shattering glass.

7 – The ending is Jaune walking through some trees with some objects in his hands. The sun is shining and he squints against it as he comes out onto a small plateau overlooking the forest. On that is a small mound of stones with a roughly hewn slab of stone at the top of it.

He sighs as he crosses his legs and sits down, idly noting a bowl of ice-cream resting atop the stones, and another beside it – empty. With a small smile Jaune pulls a packet of cigars from within his hoodie, asking that he doesn't tell Pyrrha – he told her he was quitting.

Jaune lights one and places it between his teeth, before lighting another and resting it beside the bowl of ice-cream.

He talks about life, mostly about Beacon. Things are easier now with Cinder gone. The Vytal Festival is coming up, and Jaune is working with JNPR to make sure they're ready for it. They think they have a good chance, and Jaune whispers that he's even done a little spying on RWBY – found out some of their secret combination moves when they thought no one was watching.

Jaune jokes and laughs about life, his friends – his team.

As it ends however Jaune starts to talk about a big red gem that's being brought into Vale – biggest Ruby in Remnant they say (apart from Ruby Rose of course). Jaune stands up and picks the bowler cap off the grave, flipping it onto his head.

It's been a while since Roman Torchwick hit anywhere, and you always did say you wanted to live forever. He walks away, as the cigar burns away on the grave. As he passes the nearby trees a figure appears beside him, a quick nod from multi-coloured eyes as Jaune pulls on a white coat and twirls a cane in his hand.

Time for Roman Torchwick to strike again.

\- END -

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C.F.'s Reaction:

Saying this is an 'improvement' is like saying water is wet. This is probably the best example of what I had in mind of Re-do week- taking things that were notably flawed, and making them shine. The original 'Democracy' was barely a story- this is a fic I'd actually enjoy reading.

Coeur went into some pretty thorough self-review, so I don't have much to add except I noticed them. That Jaune and Roman's friendship was practically a 7-beat system, Coeur hits on how he'd have played the friends as support characters, etc. There's a lot of thought here, more than just in the fill itself.

But if there was one thing I feel is lacking... it's that I don't feel a conflict of loyalties or ties between Jaune, Roman, and anyone else. It's understandable, and I'm definitely not saying 'fix it with a romance' though it could happen (and, FWIW, I'd say Weiss just because Jaune starts to have taste and that's hard to justify most fics), but there doesn't seem to ever be a conflict of loyalties between Roman and his friends. They aren't equal or equivalent. Roman is dominant, his 'best' friend, and so his team and everyone else comes second. Happy to spend time with, go to great efforts to be with- but ultimately they're the fallback, rather than being just as important. After Roman withholds help in Initiation, it's like Jaune is firmly subordinate till the end.

Hardly a big thing, but it sticks with me. It could have been a good second-phase difficulty, in which Jaune and Roman have a good working relationship going, but Roman has to accept/make allowances for Teams JNPR/RWBY as well. It'd help show not only Roman's growth, but also his consideration for Jaune. Maybe they start getting suspicious, and so spending time helps misdirect them? Thoughts.

Still, a great story overall, and a good use of the week.

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Coeur's Reflection:

So there we go. I tried to do something different with this, in that I did the 7 beats of romance in a non-romance, but actually wrote it like a Jaune x Roman. Sort of…

Some of it doesn't come across perfectly in planning, but here are some themes that would be in the full version.

Beat 1 – Jaune and Roman's relationship doesn't exist at this stage.

Beat 2 – I wrote that at this stage Roman is bribing Jaune, and that much is true – but come Beacon, Jaune also still doesn't take Roman's advice seriously.

Beat 3 – Roman turns the tables. Their relationship starts here, though it is rocky. Initially Jaune wants to be a noble and honourable hero and fighter – but Roman starts to win him over with pragmatism. Still, neither truly trusts one another, so much as Jaune is helping because he knows Roman has him by the balls – and because he promised to. If he goes back on that, Roman won't help him get stronger.

Beat 4 – Where Jaune and Roman begin to actually believe in one another. It becomes subtly less about Roman forcing Jaune, or Jaune feeling indebted – and more about them being a team. Se the line "The three make an unlikely alliance, deciding that the best way to sort things out is to sabotage Cinder's plans, whatever they might be." – Jaune agrees with them, he goes with them and it's an alliance of three. Not just self-survival of him and a parasite.

Beat 5 – Roman and Jaune put working together into practice, helping each other – and even having some scenes of them being friendly. Roman comes to Jaune's aid when he has his first kill, while Jaune doesn't hesitate to trust in Roman.

Beat 6 – Roman thinks more of Jaune than he does of himself, and willingly sacrifices his life to protect him. Jaune goes through with Roman's vengeance, willing to give his own to avenge his friend.

Beat 7 – They are parted now, and yet Jaune still thinks the world of Roman – almost treating him like a parent of mentor figure. And at the end, it's time for the student to become the master.

Beacon Stuff – As you might notice RWBY and JNPR had relatively small roles in this. They did in the plan, but would have larger ones in a full version. JNPR would be his family. Pyrrha is an almost nagging constant, first about training -then eventually about his bad habit of smoking or lack of sleep. Ren becomes a comrade in avoiding overbearing women, the two relaxing together in the sun or otherwise just being bro's in the simple fact that women want to dominate their lives. Nora on the other hand becomes an ally of Pyrrha – the two trying to settle Jaune down in comedic ways, such as stealing his smokes, threatening to sleep on top of him – and otherwise Nora making grand suggestions about Jaune having a tortured childhood, even as Jaune and the others laugh.

RWBY, on the other hand, have their own little place. Yang and Roman trade barbs and insults constantly, always light-hearted (though initially everyone thinks Jaune and Yang hate one another, and that they are fighting.) Ruby and Jaune share leader woes, though Jaune never does admit that she killed Roman. Eventually however Roman doesn't blame her either, saying he isn't sure if she's too cute or too stupid, but either way he can't find it in himself to hold her responsible.

Blake and Jaune have a mini-friendship after the dock's incident, mostly tying in to him being one of the few willing to listen to her Torchwick theories – mostly because he wants to make sure she isn't getting them right! Weiss and Jaune trade barbs like a married couple, and there's some initial teasing of them being as such.

A Cardin bullying Arc? I considered it, but ultimately decided against it. It makes sense to me that Roman would be able to spot and avoid such s*** coming a mile away, and while it might have been nice to have a bonding arc where Roman helps Jaune find counter-blackmail on Cardin? Well… without him training with Pyrrha, and with him having a consummate liar in his head, it's a bit weird to suggest he might accidentally let it out that he is a fake.

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Special Author's Note: Personal Favorite Fills

As a little bit of a shout-out, we wanted to ask ourselves what are the top three of the other's and our own fills - that in an ideal world (all criticism we gave taken into account and fixed) we would like to see as full stories.

So essentially, if CF were to write one of these in FULL, pretty much perfectly written - which one would excite me the most, and why. And the same looking at my own. The goal here is to see where and how we agree or disagree. Is there any we both feel are well written enough to deserve full stories?

And hey, feel free to add your own thoughts too! What was your favourite CF Fill - and what was your favourite Coeur fill.

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Coeur's No.1 College Fool Story - Chapter 8 - Healing Hands

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What gets me about this story? For one it doesn't end, at all - but for the sake of this I'm assuming it would have an ending if it were ever written as a full story. Healing Hands takes a look at the world of an OP semblance, and twists it in a beautiful way. Jaune's harsh living conditions, first as a tool for the Government, then a tool for the White Fang - is so perfectly accurate of what might happen in real life. It's at both times very sad, and very exciting - and paves the way for an incredible amount of emotional growth from Jaune.

First as a stunted tool under the employ of Vale, then perhaps as someone who grows a little more under the WF - perhaps thanks to Blake and Adam? Before coming into his own - but in a flawed way - in the criminal underworld. A lesser writer in my mind would have gone straight to Beacon, but CF doesn't rush it like others might. A section where Jaune has freedom (relative) compared to never having it before? That means when he gets to Beacon it will be with a whole new heap of misconceptions, beliefs and history. Think about it... there's so much history coming into Beacon.

Ozpin - authority figure, Jaune has had bad experiences with those. Yang - Represents a lot of what Jaune dislikes about Hunters. Ruby - Idealistic, too idealistic? Blake - Remembers her from WF, maybe fears she will rat him out? Weiss - SDC, Atlas, memories of Ironwood and being a prisoner. Glynda - Discipline, too much discipline causing problems?

There's so much conflict potential, with all the while the big threat of how long can Jaune hide his powers? Because when he reveals them... people might notice, and they WILL come for him. But the longer he refuses to, the more danger he puts his friends in. This story has the potential to be great frankly.


	60. Re-do: Weapon

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt- Jaune Arc's semblance is so dangerous, that before he came to Beacon, he accidentally killed his father in a spar.

Re-do of Weapon (Ch 1)

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Title: Weapon

Jaune wanted to be strong- but his semblance was too strong. After killing his own family on accident, a young Jaune falls into the hands of the Atlean military- where he straddles the line between being raised a person, or a weapon.

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Prologue

The story begins with Jaune, not even ten, living with his family in rural Atlas. Jaune is young, has dreams of being a strong hero like his family, and wants the powers of a Huntsman. Jaune cheats/sneaks/tricks one of his sisters into unlocking his aura, forcing his parents to train him.

Jaune's parents try to train/condition him towards developing a semblance that will help him channel his potential. They intend to push him towards a 'defensive' semblance, but Jaune- young, impatient, and having words in his head like 'the best defense is a good offense' and other things, lets his mind wander as the breeze flows by. Jaune's father, intending to knock some sense into Jaune to make him focus, takes Jaune out for a spar with the intent of scaring him into realizing how serious it is.

The spar gets out of hand. Jaune is too young and unprepared for pain, and becomes frightened of his overwhelming father. In his fear, Jaune's semblance manifests in the form of a stinging, ominous yellow cloud of aura-vapor- and Jaune's father soon suffocates to death, gasping for air as his own aura paralyzes him and renders him unable to breathe.

Jaune is terrified, shouts in fear, and his mother comes out, and she too soon suffers the same fate. A painful, grotesque death of asphyxiation. Jaune doesn't understand what's going on, and the more he fears the more his semblance pours out- enveloping his home, his neighbors, and his entire town. Jaune has a particularly traumatic experience in which the very sister who unlocked his semblance dies hiding in a closet from him, as the last of his family dies in a closet that wasn't quite air-tight and terrified of him.

Before they finish dying, the town sends a distress beacon. By the time the first landing party arrives, expecting Grimm, Jaune is all that's alive in his home town. The landing party, sympathetic, also dies after suspecting poison gas is afoot but not realizing that skin-contact is also fatal- leaving only their robots unharmed, and the next Bullhead overhead to realize what's going on.

Scene flashes forward as Jaune is taken in. Jaune is secured by robots, and only interacts with people in hazmat suits. Even they don't touch him directly- Jaune's 'poison' semblance is like a gas at range, but can also transfer by direct aura-to-aura contact, so even touching can be fatal- enough that even haz-mat suited handlers realize when he's pushed and shoved around into containment areas. Jaune is traumatized, and audience to the debate over his fate- many want him killed, some talk of taking advantage of him, and everyone blames him for the death of his family and village and some of the Atlas personnel since.

Eventually a decision is made, and one of the haz-mat suited people approaches him with a weapon. Jaune is afraid of the haz-mat suits, and that fear prompts his semblance to emit a miasma of poison gas. Jaune is hit with the weapon, shouted at to control himself, as the hazmat makes clear his position. Jaune belongs to Atlas now, and will be trained to control his and use his formidable power for when the time arises. Jaune is no longer a person now- he is property of the state.

This is his new home: a containment lab. If he ever even threatens to break out- well, they'll just pump out all the air. Jaune will die of asphyxiation, just like everyone he killed.

Thus begins Jaune's life as the subject of Project Yellow, an Atlas project aimed at a new sort of biological warfare.

Arc 1

Time skips forward as Jaune is 'raised' in a dehumanizing fashion- not even called Jaune, but referred to by a label or as 'Subject Yellow' or 'the project child' or even 'weapon.'

Jaune doesn't see a human being for years as he's harshly trained and tested by hazmat-wearing instructors that he never gets to know. They don't tell him their names, and don't treat him as a person, merely giving orders and commands and punishing him when he fails- which is constantly, as he doesn't know how to restrain his semblance. He never even sees their faces- even when they stand in the observation room sealed from his cell, they always wear their suits for fear of unknown properties of his semblance.

Without human company, Jaune grows up stunted- and with an interest in robots, the only beings who physically interact with him. Even the haz-mat personnel keep their distance, and out of fear they even keep their protective gear on from the neighboring observation room. The robots are the closest things to friends Jaune has, but being fancy automatons they are incapable of actually being friendly. Even so, Jaune projects that they are- a sign of how desperate and even crazy his isolation is making him. The robots are the only things that call him by his name, and Jaune imagines that some of them are showing personality.

Jaune's training shows the slightest of progress as the mix of discipline and punishment continues- but Jaune is only able to suppress his semblance for short period of times, not hold it in. This angers the hazmat officials- especially the 'project leader' one- as he's still too dangerous to use. There's even talk of terminating the project- and 'decommissioning' him.

Jaune's life as a lab-rat takes a turn when a new figure in a hazmat suit arrives one day. Bigger, bulkier than the rest, and most defer to him. It's some kind of VIP, and Jaune is run through a gauntlet of tests to show his 'progress.' Jaune knows thanks to unkind warnings that the survival of this weapons project- his survival- depends on this man's approval.

Jaune does well at first- self-control suppressing the semblance- but one mistake leads to another leads to a catastrophic downturn. As the controllers yell at him to control himself, Jaune suffers a nervous breakdown because he knows he can't- and even though he blames himself every day for what he did, he's afraid to die. The thought of asphyxiating terrifies him, and the more he panics the more semblance-gas he emits. Soon alarms begin to go off as well- he's overloading the ventilation system, and the test supervisor is getting ready to activate the failsafe.

The Supervisor, and the entire panic, is stopped as the VIP orders them to calm down. Despite the chaos in the observation room, the VIP has an unyielding presence that refuses to panic- and then does something that shocks Jaune.

He takes off his hazmat helmet.

The VIP is Colonel Ironwood, and from the safety of the observation room he gives Jaune the first face-to-face contact Jaune has had since he got his semblance. Ironwood notices how the hazmat people have frightened Jaune, and dismisses them and lowers the alert. As the situation calms down, Jaune calms down, and as Jaune calms down his semblance withdraws.

Ironwood isn't the first to realize that Jaune's semblance is provoked by fear, but he's the first to acknowledge that Jaune's treatment is what is scaring him. Ironwood treats Jaune like a person, asks his name, and basically gives him the first positive human interaction he's had in years. Ironwood isn't soft, but he isn't cruel, and he doesn't blame Jaune for the past he couldn't control (or control himself in). Before he knows it, Jaune is re-doing and completing the tests for Ironwood, desperate to do well because he wants Ironwood to return. Jaune succeeds in his test, and Ironwood has to go, but Ironwood promises to return later.

Ironwood does, and Jaune learns that Ironwood has taken over this military project as part of a variety of top-secret projects being done by the rising star of the Atlean military. Ironwood is a very busy man, but he regularly visits and always makes time to talk with Jaune when he does. These 5-15 minutes of human attention are god-sends for Jaune, helping him retain/regain his mental balance.

Ironwood is honest about his intentions towards Jaune. He wants Jaune's power. But he believes Jaune's power can be harnessed and channeled to protect Remnant from dangerous people. He asks for Jaune's help in helping them all- and if Jaune can master his power, then Ironwood could see about getting him out of the cell for short periods of time. It's a strong offer, but at this point Jaune doesn't care. The sheer fact that Ironwood treats him like a person is enough to secure his desperate gratitude.

With Jaune aboard, Ironwood thanks him and promises to remember it. Ironwood wants Jaune to meet the other members of his team, and has someone in particular in mind who's not so different from Jaune.

The next time Ironwood arrives, he brings an auburn-haired girl in a green dress.

Arc 2

Penny is introduced to Jaune not as a robot, but as a fellow subject of these labs. Ironwood's exact words are 'she's a lot like you'- an ambiguous but reoccurring comparison that echoes across the story.

At this time, Jaune interprets it to mean that she's a test subject like him- though unlike him, she walks around with armed guards who post outside the observation room, rather than hazmat suits. Despite being 'off' and as awkward as Jaune himself, Jaune is happy to have a visitor who looks his age- and his happiness makes Penny visibly happy as well. Ironwood gives Penny permission to visit Jaune without him present- a release from her own lab that she calls home- and both Penny and Jaune are estatic for their own but similar reasons.

Penny is the second 'human face' that Jaune sees, and his first friend since arriving, as the two start an odd 'separated by glass' friendship. Penny becomes a constant presence in the observation room- except when Jaune is training or she's taken off to her own lab for unclear reasons- and by all accounts seems a normal, if exceptionally awkward and odd, girl with an occasional limp or stiff limb. Penny doesn't talk about her situation much, just as Jaune doesn't talk about his past, but the two bond even so. The sight of Penny standing by glass, or sitting on a chair and kicking her legs experimentally, become a welcome part of Jaune's routine. Penny is as eager for a friend as Jaune is desperate, and they quickly bond.

While Ironwood is a consistent but brief visitor from the observation room, Penny becomes a far more frequent guest of the observation room. Neither Jaune or Penny understand that he's a means for prototype-Penny to develop her interpersonal skills, and even if they did neither would care. Penny likes hearing about the would outside the lab, and even if it's unintentionally bitter-sweet Jaune is happy/desperate for anyone to talk to. Penny likes to talk about her 'father' Gepetto in turn, and takes a strong interest in how Jaune treats his robot minders and his hobby of modifying them.

At the same time, however, both he and Penny keep secrets from eachother, as the nature of their powers are kept secret from one another as they remain separated by the glass. Penny doesn't go into her odd nature or occasional spasms or the nature of her lab or father's work, while Jaune doesn't go into the event that brought him here or why he's locked in. Both are afraid that if the other knew the truth, the friendship would end- that Jaune would be put off by the robotic interior, or that Penny would be driven off by his guilt and familiacide.

Despite this, though, Jaune begins to desperately want to be physically close with Penny. Not sexually or 'falling in love' but 'needing human contact.' Jaune is happy that Penny isn't as locked away as he is, but also very jealous of the same. The barrier separating him from Penny just drives in how isolated and locked away he is, and the lab feels ever more suffocating (which is, again, both the effect of Jaune's semblance and his greatest fear). Jaune begins to crumble as he realizes how much he wants physical contact. Jaune begins to falter in his progress, and slide into depression. Even Penny notices Jaune begin to act erratically, but her well-intentioned concern leads to a conflict when Jaune begs for her enter her cell. Even if in a Hazmat suit, he wants- needs- something or someone he can feel.

Penny, who has a prototype body that looks human but whose inhuman framework would be obvious at a touch, refuses. Jaune shuts down, not angry but simply unresponsive, and Penny flees out of guilt and awkwardness.

Penny's refusal sends Jaune from sliding into outright falling in depression. Realizing how desperately he wants physical contact, but believing he can never have it, Jaune loses his will to go on. He flagrantly skips days of training, and even ignores Ironwood when the General is called in out of concern. The only person he stirs himself for Penny- and only to apologize for his unreasonable request the last time they talked. Penny tries to ask Jaune to be patient, that her father is working on a solution, but Jaune seems unjustifiably happy as he believes he's found one to. Jaune sends Penny off and back to her father with a smile as disturbing as it is sincere.

Everyone from Penny to Ironwood- even the haz-mat suited observers to afraid to approach him directly- are worried, even before Jaune attempts to kill himself.

Jaune's 'solution' is suicide, and he waits until the lights-out period to attempt it. Sabotaging his personal robot minders so that they won't interfere, Jaune attempts to hang himself in the training area using his bed sheets. Penny returns just in time to see Jaune kick his stool over, and Jaune falls watching Penny's expression of horror.

Jaune screwed up, not just in attempting it but in how he goes about it. Instead of breaking his neck and killing him instantly, Jaune begins to choke to death- asphyxiation, his greatest fear. As Penny screams in alarm and her guards scramble for help, Jaune struggles to survive. He doesn't want to die like this, and didn't want to die in front of Penny.

Help arrives as the haz-matted reaction force shows up, but they can't help because of Jaune. His sabotage of his robotic minders prevents anything inside the chamber from helping, and Jaune's fear of asphyxiation is triggering his semblance full-stop. Even if the haz-matted personnel entered his cell through the airlock, direct aura-to-aura would kill them if they tried to let Jaune down. Though nowhere near as eagerly/willingly as they would have at the start of the story, the haz-mat guards regretfully intend to let him die. His death should end his semblance, and make it safe to recover him.

Penny hears this, and won't accept it and runs out of the observation room. Jaune hears this and is relieved. No one else will die because of him, Penny won't see his final moments. Jaune begins to accept his death and cease his struggling. That is until the airlock begins cycling, and Jaune and the observation crew realize that Penny is attempting to enter the cell and save him herself.

Jaune and everyone else not aware of Penny's true nature are horrified, but can't stop theairlock process. The only way to stop it would be to activate the failsafe shutdown, which will seal the lab and pump out all the air- a raised option that Jaune desperately wishes for but can't signal, and which is prevented by the arrival of Penny's father. Gepetto prevents the failsafe, and challenges Jaune to control his semblance instead- that if he doesn't want to kill Penny, he should think of something else.

Jaune tries, but despite his efforts he can't dissipate the gas. With his last bits of consciousness as his vision darkens, Jaune thinks of his gas 'stopping' or 'make her sleep' rather than killing her, but he doubts it would have any effect. Jaune can only hope he dies before the airlock finishes cycling, in hopes that his death will negate his semblance and spare Penny.

It's not to be. Gepetto tells Penny and gives her permission to hurry- right as she blows up the inner airlock by her own initiative. Penny blows up the airlock entrance into the lab, uses her blades to cut Jaune down, and is there to catch him as he falls. Penny saves her Jaune… and fails to die when exposed to Jaune's semblance or touching him.

Penny's secret is out, and realized by Jaune as he's held by her as he regains his breath. Penny is a robot (le shock!), and so unaffected by Jaune's semblance. Despite his robot hobby, Penny was afraid of how he'd react if he knew the truth about her- but she's even more afraid now. Jaune might not have wanted to live without physical contact, but Penny wouldn't want to live without her one and only friend. Penny holds onto him, and he holds onto her just as tightly, and Jaune assures her he doesn't care even as he apologizes to her.

When Ironwood finally arrives a short time later, it's to the two still holding eachother- Jaune crying and Penny holding him just as tightly..

Arc 4

Jaune's suicide attempt is a major change on many levels, and the aftereffects play out over a series of scenes and gradually increasing time skips. To start with, it's a big pause and delay for both projects, Jaune and Penny both. Penny blowing up the airlock means that both are trapped inside Jaune's lab and everyone else trapped outside until the airlock can be repaired and re-installed. This is a significant delay for Penny's project development and hardware upgrade schedule, and the cost of the facility damage makes some question the value of Project Yellow. Ironwood fields these issues, with him and Gepetto having some unsaid but convincing reasons.

Penny and Jaune, though- they couldn't care. Being trapped together is a blessing, as the two begin a physical stage of their unique relationship. Not sexual, but physically intimate all the same, as Jaune can't stop from brushing against, touching, or holding Penny at every opportunity as he makes up for years of physical isolation. Penny is accepting even as she learns, practices, and embraces gestures of physical affection- hugs, holding hands, and brushing hair. The two even sleep together- or rather, when Jaune falls asleep, it's often while hugging or snuggling against Penny's frame, much as he used to do with his sisters when younger. There's some comedic moments as Penny's un-upgraded frame isn't the most comfortable and occasionally pinches, but for the most part it's tender- to the point that Penny will stroke his hair and refuse to move after he falls asleep, not wanting to wake him.

Again, it's not a sexual relationship by any means- but it is close enough that it raises eyebrows and worries about propriety. Even some of the people who believe Jaune a 'weapon' Penny a 'thing' are uncomfortable about how close a boy and girl are. It's improper- and it's that feeling which humanizes both Penny and Jaune to some- though it also gets some hurting comments as well. That Penny is just an object being projected on, and that Jaune is some sort of sick robot-phile.

Whether that's true is questionable- but it's indisputable that Jaune grows extremely close to/for Penny as Jaune recovers from his suicide attempt. In the heat of the emotional rebound from the near-death experience, Jaune's feelings for Penny are strong but just shy of romantic. She's more than 'just' a friend, but not family. On an emotional steamroller, Jaune doesn't care to dwell on the exact nature of his feelings, even if he has doubts of himself. He knows Penny is more than a mere robot- but he knows he's pushing the physical affection envelope a lot as it is. The fact that Penny doesn't oppose- doesn't even see a reason to oppose- calls into question his own feelings. How much is him just pushing the envelope after so many years of absence of contact, and how much is her, well, not being human enough to refuse?

Penny, for her part, is going through an emotional awakening even as her AI cortex and emotional software are evolving and being upgraded. Penny is defining friendship and understanding interaction through Jaune. Penny is grappling with 'affection'- but doesn't really consider 'love' in any way.

Ultimately both of them are coming to terms emotionally with affection, but not attraction. Penny is developing her software, but stunted and awaiting the physical hardware upgrades awaiting her after the lab is re-opened. Between much-needed psychological counseling from the far-side of the observation window and Penny being his hands-on instructor for resuming his training, Jaune regains a real measure of emotional stability and regains control over his powers.

Which are actually progressing. During his suicide attempt, in the final moments before Penny intervened, Jaune's powers fluctuated- and instead of being utterly lethal, they took a non-lethal property. Even had Penny been a real girl (a wording that hurts Penny and makes Jaune bristle), she would have survived Jaune's second semblance gas- a paralysis gas. This means that Jaune could conceivably gain control of his powers- and if he did, then he could be trusted outside of the lab.

By the time the lab airlock is repaired, a new normal is established. Jaune's control has stabilized, and his training is focused on channeling his power. Penny is developed emotionally, and due a long series of upgrades to help her body catch up to her 'mind' and allow her to process her feelings better. Both are close, physical friends, but not romantic.

As the doors separate, and the two separate for the first time in some time, Jaune feels a tinge of desire for Penny and a desire for her to not leave him- but Ironwood, awaiting him on the otherside of the airlock in hazmat suit, assures him that the separation will be shorter.

Penny will return, and visit as she can. Until then, it's time for Jaune to focus on what he can do.

Arc 5

Jaune trains, Penny gets gradual upgrades to becoming closer to her cannon body, both deal with a growing attraction as Ironwood leads both projects to military usefulness.

The main plot focuses as Project Yellow is forced to justify its continued existence. As the time of peace continues, budget cuts are hitting the military, and both Project Yellow and Penny have to justify their continued existence and start producing results. Penny's project is easier to justify- the mechanical upgrades become a part of the new series of combat mechs like the Atlas Knights- but Jaune is harder to justify, especially as his powers aren't stable.

Despite the promising start, Jaune's ability to control his powers and produce non-lethal gas is highly unreliable. With Penny or some small animals, Jaune is able to have non-lethal stun gas. But whenever there's anyone else present- especially someone in a bulky hazmat suit- Jaune only produces poison gas. The moment he's afraid someone could be killed, Jaune grows afraid he'll fail, ensuring he fails. The lingering effects of trauma.

Two new characters enter the plot: an Unsympathetic Government Authority Figure (GAF), and Ironwood's new subordinate, Winter Schnee. GAF drives the arc plot, while Winter drives the character plot.

GAF is the antagonist of the arc, a high ranking supervisor/auditor/oversight official. In light of Jaune/Penny's facility damage, and the extended age of peace encouraging complacency and budget cuts, he's there to make sure that Atlas is getting its money's worth from Ironwood's pet projects. It's an understandable role, but the guy is a jerk- one of those who dehumanizes Jaune and Penny, and sees them both as weapon projects that's aren't fulfilling their purpose. If they aren't, the projects- and the test subjects- face termination. Ironwood is opposed to this, and spends most of his time working the bureaucracy to keep the projects alive and reassuring Jaune and Penny to not worry.

Penny's project is easier to justify, since technological improvements can be spun-off to make the new Atlas Knight series of mechs, but Jaune is harder. Not only is his power unstable, but it's useless against Grimm- who don't have Aura like everyone else, and don't suffer asphyxiation. Project Yellow quickly faces a demand of finding a use for Jaune, or face termination.

It's Winter who provides a solution to that. Winter is first introduced as a new aid/subordinate of General Ironwood. SDC gets influence within Atlas and with Ironwood by helping bankroll the military R&D, and so Winter has mixed roles and purposes. But she is a loyal and reliable subordinate for Ironwood, and she makes a significant impact on Jaune as new trainer for mastering his semblance- and as the second person past Penny (and the first person in a hazmat suit) to touch Jaune.

Winter has a personal custom hazmat suit befitting a Schnee- thinner, white, and with clearer glass so that her face can be seen. She's cautious, but not afraid, and most startling will even give him light physical contact- first by whapping him in the head to enforce discipline or restore focus. Jaune's been hit by weapons, but it's the first time anyone has dared hit him personally, and Jaune is awed/impressed/ and even a bit smitten. Not in canon levels comparable to Weiss, but Winter is new and novel and quickly has a significant impact on him.

Winter is firm but fair, strict but safe, and despite being frosty and formal at first she soon becomes friendly as well. Knowing Jaune is the age of her own sister humanizes him to her. Winter is an expert and experienced in the field of the mental self-discipline to master a semblance, and makes a good teacher for Jaune. Winter doesn't accept excuses, but doesn't castigate failure, and pushes Jaune to practice self-discipline. Control of himself leads to control of his powers… and to control of his emotions, limiting his hero-crush for her. Jaune pretends he doesn't have a little crush, and Winter pretends she doesn't notice, and so they get along well. Jaune has awe/admiration for Winter, which helps remind Winter of Weiss and put him in a little-brother sort of role (though she's far too professional to claim that).

Jaune's hero-crush on Winter sparks friction with Penny. As her hardware upgrades catch up to her evolving AI, there's some mismatch as the new physical-mental interfaces develop. Penny increasingly enjoys spending time with Jaune… and gets increasingly annoyed when Jaune spends that time talking about Winter. In other words, Penny is going through robot puberty, and is getting jealous. She even entertains thoughts about trying to make her body upgrades more resemble Winter. But she still cares about Jaune, and like everyone else she's still concerned about the fate of Jaune's project. Penny would be happy if Jaune was there for her forever- but the more he talks with Winter, the more Jaune opens up and admits he wants to see the outside world again. But with GAF demanding deliverables…

In separate moments of honesty and openness with both of them, Jaune admits that he's worried. He's not afraid of dying in general, he still would see it as judgement for what he's done, but he is afraid of asphyxiation and the failsafe. Penny promises that that won't happen, but doesn't have a clue how. Jaune can't ask her what he really wants, and (in a hesitance seen by Penny as him putting Winter above her), asks Winter for a favor. If he has to die, to do it herself and make it quick and painless rather than use the failsafe. Winter promises, but with a flash of seeing Weiss in Jaune's place she also privately resolves that it won't happen.

It's Winter who comes up with the solution- finding a means to capture and keep Jaune's semblance stable in a container. Semblances usually expire after a short period of time or certain distance from the host, but using SDC technology Winter is able to capture and preserve a semblance effect- basically bottling Jaune's poison gas. Once bottled, the only way to dissipate it in the bottle would be to kill Jaune himself. These 'bottles' are dust-lined containers- and can range from handheld gas grenades to large containers.

With this, Jaune has utility as a one-man chemical weapons plant. The paralysis gas is harvested, and rushed to field trials in order to meet GAF's deadline. They make headlines, however, when they're used to end a major SDC labor camp protest. An occupation of SDC mining operations that could easily have become a major riot ends in minutes and without a single casualty when Jaune's gas freezes hundreds, including notorious agitators. It unquestionably saved lives… but calls Winter into question, as she bypassed Atlas protocols and took advantage of family resources to solve a family business problem. And she did it all without asking or Jaune's consent.

GAF doesn't care, though, as GAF loves the results- too much. Project Yellow isn't just preserved, but increased, as 'production' is expanded- to include the lethal gasses. GAF has hyper-nationalistic visions of chemical warfare as a panacea. Labor protests, rogue Hunters, rebellions- Atlas could simply gas all internal threats into submission. Other kingdoms wouldn't be able to resist or even copy it- and there's a whiff of expansionist/conquest in the air that alarms even Ironwood as GAF takes de facto control, and personally takes over oversight of the project.

GAF's rulership is brief but miserable. Jaune is one more seen as a thing, and pushed- forced- to generate his semblance gasses- especially the lethal sort. When Jaune tries to refuse, enforcers in hazmat suits are sent in to beat and scare him. Winter and Ironwood's protests and objections are overruled, as both are afraid that open defiance will lose their positions and ability to restrain GAF at all. They engage in a bureaucratic shadow-war to remove GAF, but can't help directly.

The only person unrestrained is Penny- who, with Ironwood and Winter's encouragement, moves into Jaune's cell for a time. Penny prevents any abuse, and helps bolster Jaune's resolve. GAF is furious, but can't do anything about it- Penny is nominally 'rogue' and not accepting outside commands. Even when GAF uses his beuracratic leverage to take over Penny's project as well, he can't get his way- Penny has no shut-down command or failsafe (or rather, they were hidden and/or erased), and so can't simply be turned off. GAF rages and threatens to have Penny scrapped, but to do that he'd have to come inside the lab- and any puncture to their HAZMAT suits in the presence of Jaune's semblance would mean almost certain death.

What emerges is a standoff- Penny and Jaune holed up in the lab, GAF in control of the vents, and Ironwood and Winter working against GAF through their contacts and influence. GAF tries to get Jaune to make gas so he can increase his stockpile stockpile, but Jaune has the control not to and refuses as best he can. All GAF can do is threaten the failsafe- but doing so would kill the goose that lays the golden egg. With Winter's reminder, and with Penny there as support, Jaune is able to reign in his fear of aspyxiation.

Through this time together once again, Jaune and Penny grow closer. While they're still as physically close as the last time they were trapped, including sleeping in the same bed, they've gained a more mature dimension. Jaune's well into puberty and hormones and desires, and Penny is… well, her hardware is emulating as much about being human as possible, and mentally she knows she feels affection for him. She wants Jaune safe and happy and comfortable, and helping him feel better makes her happy- a description that only heightens the awkwardness Jaune feels with and towards her.

Despite this, Jaune and Penny have heart to hearts, and Penny's affection- even if it's not put in terms of 'love'- is put in the open. It's just a hair short of romantic intent, withheld only by Penny's acceptance of the biological (or lack thereof) difference. They're only as close as they are because she's not human- but because she's not human, she can never be a woman like Winter. She's someone Jaune cares for, but something he can't/shouldn't desire, and while dancing around the L-word Penny makes peace with that and her jealousy of Winter. Jaune is moved, but unsure of what to say or how to feel by Penny's affection (or her implicit desire to be a human woman he'd desire).

The lab hold-up gets ended by outside events. The use of gas by Atlas and the Schnees has gotten attention, and GAF's stockpile of gas has become a target for the White Fang. A crisis begins when GAF's stockpile of gas is captured by a White Fang attack- including Jaune's lethal nerve agent. The get-away plan is stopped, but the White Fang is holed up with large amounts of Jaune's gas. The prospect of the White Fang using the gas near/in a major city creates a state of emergency, and a quarter of Atlas is evacuated as a siege results.

GAF is overwhelmed by the crisis, and tries to avoid blame he richly deserves. Blamed for everything- the shoddy security, the public endangerment, the fact that he was the one who ordered the lethal gas stockpiled in the first place rather than just the non-lethal variants- GAF is desperate and wants to resort to the desperate measures of killing Jaune. The hope (not certainty- hope) is that if Jaune dies, all his semblance gas will be rendered inert.

Ironwood and Winter prevent him from doing so. They have the alternative- if Penny can beat the White Fang and recover the gas, then there's no reason to kill Jaune. Penny leaves the lab for the first time for a field test, with Jaune's life at stake. Penny leaves Jaune regretfully, but promises to save him, and vows to return victorious. Penny leaves, and is dazzled by the yellow sun (which reminds her of Jaune) as she leaves the facility for the first time.

Penny does her mission and the cast watches as mission-recording TV cameras track the action. Every time Penny is successful, tension decreases. Every time trouble arises, tension increases and GAF itches to activate the failsafe. Despite some trouble, and Ironwood waiting stoically to give her a chance, Penny is victorious and secures the train. Instead of staying around, though Penny immediately rushes back to the lab as fast as she can, hijacking a Bullhead to get there faster.

The crisis is over, but GAF is screwed. The crisis has given Ironwood all the leverage he needs to remove GAF from the project. Winter takes it one step further, counting the examples of incompetence. Not only is his career over, but as a Schnee the SDC is going to blacklist him from any high-profile or influential position. GAF panics, and tries to blame everything on Jaune, but it's clear that Ironwood has won. With an imminent promotion to General, and with the Schnee's support, his influence over Atlas will be cemented and his pet projects secure.

GAF, defeated, spitefully (and literally) stabs Ironwood in the back and activates the failsafe.

GAF is subdued and removed as Winter tries to cancel the failsafe. She can't- it's designed to be irreversible- and in minutes there will be no more air for Jaune to breath. Jaune invokes his promise from Winter, and asks her to give him a clean death before that can happen.

Winter refuses to murder someone who reminds her of Weiss and who she's come to see as a pseudo-brother. As does Ironwood, who is wounded but powering through. Ironwood has an idea, but it requires Jaune to stay calm, control his fear, and not give up. Ironwood leaves, leaving Winter to stay with Jaune from the other side of the observation window. She and Jaune exchange what could be last words- Jaune confessing his hero-crush (and moving past it) and thanking her for her friendship, and Winter talking and sharing about her sister Weiss in an effort to keep him calm and distracted as the air gets thinner. Jaune struggles to stay calm as the air gets thinner and thinner, and his last words and thoughts are for Penny and how she might feel.

Right as it approaches intolerable- as Jaune's is gasping and choking for air and blacking out, but still holding in his semblance- there's an explosion as part of containment cell falls in. A flaming bullhead crashes in and- yup, it's Penny, cracking open the lab from the outside. The breach of containment sends alarms blaring, but also lets in air as Penny descends and picks the unconscious Jaune up.

Penny carries Jaune to fresh air, and Jaune comes to confused as the long-forgotten feeling of wind in his hair and sun on his face wakes him up. For the first time in seven years, Jaune is outside. As he regains oxygen and strength, Jaune marvels at the beauty. Penny, still on her first day outside, agrees. Being held, and holding her, and appreciating the outside world with her, Jaune looks at Penny- and is breathless. Penny notices and turns to him with concern, and the two begin to get closer.

The moment is ruined as armed guards surround them at a distance. There's fear all around at the containment breach, and the unprotected guards are scared and want to shoot Jaune before he can use his semblance. GAF is present, and hysterically urges them to do just that. But it's Ironwood who controls the situation on his arrival- pointing out that trying to kill Jaune would make him afraid, and be the self-fulfilling prophesy. Instead, Winter points out the important revelation- they're not already dead. Jaune held in his semblance, even in the face of death and his greatest fear. He's demonstrated a major measure of self-control, even in the face of attempted murder.

GAF protests the charge, calling Jaune a thing and a weapon and so he can't be murdered. But to the assembled soldiers, Jaune is just a boy- and Penny, who's holding him but clearly not dying, is just a girl. Ironwood plays that ignorance to discredit GAF, and the soldiers stand down.

The situation calms down as 'what's next' is considered. Jaune can't be put back into a containment lab that's already been broken, and so in the interim Jaune is moved by bullhead somewhere remote. Penny can't leave the lab until her post-mission analysis, so Winter accompanies him while Ironwood deals with the fallout. Camping out, Winter and Jaune talk- about the future, about Jaune, and about them.

Jaune's status is up in the air now. By the nature of his semblance, he's always going to be a subject of concern. One really bad day and Jaune could be worse than the White Fang crisis that just resolved. 'Freedom'- or at least absolute freedom- is likely impossible. But being free-er, with fewer restrictions, is possible- and Ironwood is interested in that. It's related to Ironwood's view of Penny, and protecting the world. People with powerful semblances are a fact, and AI like Penny are equally dangerous. But their existence isn't just inevitable, it's necessary to save Remnant- and so instead of fearing the powerful, Ironwood wants to make the powerful an accepted part of the world and committed to using their power to protect it. He's intent on treating Penny as a Real Girl rather than a battle-bot because he wants her to identify with and want to protect humanity. And he wants Jaune to be accepted for the same- because Jaune's power, while dangerous, could also save people who would otherwise die. Treating Jaune as a person, and giving him more freedoms along with necessary restrictions, is good strategy as well as good intentions- but Ironwood will have to convince a lot of powerful people in order to do that.

It's a heavy topic, and an uncomfortable subject matter. Winter can't promise that Ironwood will be successful. He could lose power in the future, and Jaune's future be determined by another GAF. He could be locked back in a small containment cell for the rest of his life with a death-switch always nearby.

So Winter extends Jaune an offer- run away with her. Slip away while Ironwood's guard is down. She can take him to SDC, who has the resources to run a containment lab. If Jaune is doomed to live in a cage, it could at least be a gilded cage, with no failsafe, and with as many amenities and allowances as Winter could arrange and regular outdoor outings. It's not charity, of course, but she can guarantee he'd never be abused, and she would never allow them to try and make him produce his lethal nerve gas. He'd be safe- and she promises to visit him regularly. Without the suit, even- just like they're doing now. Winter seems to be counting on his admitted hero-admiration crush he had.

It's tempting, but Jaune refuses for reasons relating to Penny. Penny is waiting for him, and would be hurt if he ran away and left her behind. She's also in a similar circumstance as him, and he'd rather face their challenge as weapon-people together than be a comfortable recluse alone. And finally… he has optimism that he can earn his way out. Winter taught him to control his semblance, and his fear, and he didn't let it out even when GAF nearly killed him with the failsafe. Jaune wants to master his power, not be imprisoned by it, and he's optimistic that if he can he'll be trusted by the public and public authorities. So no- he won't join her in treason, which would endanger not only her but her family as well.

Winter has a stern expression… and then smiles and tells Jaune he passed a test of character. It's not a lie, but it's possible she was truly sincere in her offer of fleeing to the SDC. Whichever it was, Winter approves of his reasoning. Winter opens up, and is openly fond of Jaune, and the two talk family. Jaune's admiration-crush reminds her of Weiss, and Winter muses about letting them meet some day. Talk of Winter's family leads to talk of Jaune's family, and Winter- experienced with uncomfortable family dyanmics- is able to convince Jaune that his own family would not only forgive him, but be proud of how he's managed to grow since then. Jaune believes her, and the two spend a comfortable night in the woods before getting a call of where to meet Ironwood for Jaune's new place to stay.

Jaune's new place to stay is Penny's lab, which has basic air-pressure safeties to keep toxic fumes in, where Gepetto accepts Jaune's presence and his mostly robotic staff doesn't care. Penny is surprised but happy to see him. Penny somehow got wind of Winter's intended offer, and expected him to run away with her. Penny believes it was a genuine offer, and to her it was a matter of Jaune choosing between Winter and her- a choice she thought she'd lose. Why?

Jaune doesn't explain, but gives Penny a peck on the cheek and tells her that she's the only girl for him. Penny does the closest she can to blush- glitches- but Jaune laughs lightheartedly and moves on. If making him feel good and comfortable really would make Penny happy, she can help by helping him move in and set up his own bedroom… in hers.

/

Arc 5: Intro to Vale

Time skips forward towards the events of canon, and POV switches from Jaune to Penny.

Jaune is an uncomfortable political football in Ironwood's possession. There's initially extreme opposition to Jaune not being in a biohazard containment lab and having even limited freedoms- but without a better facility, and Ironwood's refusal to execute him out of hand, Jaune's new freedom is a fact. At first it's endured, then tolerated, and even accepted as Jaune goes more and more time outside the lab- to the point that Jaune stops being a subject of fear and merely an object of curiosity to new guards. Jaune isn't free- he's constantly watched, and the R&D labs have basic air pressure separations to ensure that any semblance gas won't leave- but by the time the containment lab is rebuilt, Jaune isn't forced back into it. Ironwood fills it with some other science project, and the council of Atlas doesn't protest that hard as other control measures have worked well enough. One of them is Jaune's own person haz-mat suit- the hoodie-and-jeans combo of canon being custom-made for Jaune. If his adrenaline spikes/aura surges/semblance starts, it mecha-shifts into a containment suit to keep Jaune's gas trapped with him. (Also capturing farts. Oh, and the onesie was a protype model that Winter enjoyed teasing Jaune with.) Between the security measures and his unfailing self-control, Jaune continues to be on good behavior.

Good, but worryingly close with Penny. Jaune and Penny are practically inseparable, and not just because Penny is officially Jaune's keeper for any incidents about his semblance. They are openly affectionate (hands, holding, and frequent contact) even if rumors of romance remain just that- for now. And the 'for now' becomes relevant as the prospect of a Human-AI relationship is raised and a range of views expressed. The Council views it as an abhorrent deviancy of robot-philia. Ironwood has no objection- having accepted Penny's personhood, he views her body as he might the cybernetic prosthetics of a wounded soldier. Winter doesn't approve but isn't surprised- what do you expect when you deny a boy all other forms of company or emotional connection? And Gepetto…

Gepetto deserves some elaboration. He's not driven the plot, but he's been a re-occuring presence across the story as Penny's odd but involved father and creator. He's visited Jaune a few times, typically for the person about asking about Penny's personality and updating her AI programing. Gepetto is determined that Penny be as real a girl as possible, and is the only one actively encouraging Penny and Jaune to be together. For grandkids.

If Ironwood believes that AI are inevitable are should be treated as human to tie them to the fate of the people of Remnant, Gepetto wants them to become the people of Remnant, indistinguishable from humans or faunus. Gepetto is a trans-humanists who believe that the future (and survival) of the people of Remnant depends on eliminating the boundary between man and machine. That surviving, let alone beating, the Grimm will require cybernetics and cyborgs and AIs who can survive together in any environment. His goal is to recreate the most complex machine in nature, something indistinguishable from humans mentally and physically. He's convinced he's done the former with Penny, who he sees as his daughter, and wants to do the later as well. Gepetto likes Jaune for liking Penny, and he sees their friendship as the proof of concept and would see a romance as the proof of everything he's strived for.

He is, in other words, the loving but embarrassing father who tries to push his daughter and her potential boyfriend together before they're together. Which he's convinced he has the solution to by making updates to Penny's software and upgrades to her body. Ironwood has to awkwardly step in from time to time to remind him that, while Penny is a real girl, she is also a supersoldier/superweapon and so body modifications should have military uses and not just dating applications. By the time this arc, and Jaune moving into Penny's lab, Gepetto is openly pushing them towards eachother as a couple.

Which they aren't, yet, because… it's not clear, really. Not to Penny, who has progressed from feelings of friendship and innocent affection to not-so-innocent jealousy and finally starting to deal with thoughts of love. Wondering what it is, if it's what she's feeling for Jaune, and if he feels it for her. He's affectionate, and warm, but since that peck on the cheek he's never tried to kiss her again. Penny has yet to dare ask him why, even though it vexes her in private, because she's afraid of the reason for why not- just one more of the complicated feelings she's developing.

Fortunately, a happy milestone is reached. As the Vytal festival approaches, Ironwood gets permission from the Atlas Council for Jaune to enter a city for the first time. It's partly because of Jaune's good behavior, and partly blackmail- Penny is going to the Vytal festival, and if she's going to keep guard over Jaune then Jaune will have to accompany (and Ironwood won't throw Jaune into containment in the meantime).

It's the first time Penny and Jaune have been allowed to visit a major population center, and both of them look forward to it. Both of them are also reminded that their nature is secret- partly to protect them, partly as Ironwood's strategy, but point is that no one asked Vale permission. Penny doesn't care, because Penny is interested in seeing the city with Jaune in an unchaperoned kinda-sorta-but-maybe-not date. (Technically she's Jaune's chaperone, but that doesn't count.) Instead of being her first time out of the lab, Vale is the first time out of the lab and alone with Jaune since the failsafe incident.

The two go out and enjoy the town and the sight of so many people. Well, Penny enjoys- Jaune is overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, worryingly so, and so Penny takes him away from the busier streets. Instead of running into Penny, it's bumping into Jaune that starts the encounter with Team RWBY- a startling that triggers Jaune's hoodie-hazmat suit when he nearly uses his (non-lethal) semblance, and starts questions and Weiss's recognition. Weiss doesn't know Jaune, but she knows of him through Winter, and Winter sent her a heads up to keep an eye out. Winter lied about Jaune's power since it was classified, and so Weiss thinks Jaune's suit is just him being super-shy or something. A subtle point of foreshadowing is that Ruby and Yang vaguely recall the name 'Arc', but not from where.

Team RWBY and Jaune and Penny start talking. Jaune and Penny are are the awkward odd couple due to the last several years, with Jaune's slang and cultural awareness being dated, but Penny is also more socially developed thanks to Jaune. Unlike in canon where the team tried to get away from her as soon as possible, Yang seizes on the Weiss connection to push the team (and Ruby in particular) to try and make friends with the odd but harmless pair. Due to the lack of Jaune and a friendship with Team JNPR, Team RWBY and Ruby in particular have a reputation of being very insular- with the last time anyone but Yang tried to make friends with someone outside the team being Weiss's attempted partnership with Pyrrha. Ruby's the one to ask the question of if Jaune and Penny are going out- and Penny's visible disappointment when Jaune laughs and disclaims it is noticed.

The conversation gets derailed, however, when the Weiss-Blake argument over faunus comes up. Jaune and Penny are awkward bystanders- but helpfully volunteer to help their new friends in the subsequent search. Unfortunately, though, Penny and Jaune get separated and dragged apart when Ruby and Yang decide to split up to cover more ground, though neither can make a big deal about it without exposing themselves. Ruby and Penny talk, sharing how they have so few friends and hold those they do so close, and Penny acknowledges her thoughts are on Jaune, to Ruby's romantic excitement. Yang, on the other hand, gets to see Jaune without Penny- and unlike the cheerful and easy-going persona he has with her, without Penny Jaune is insecure and nervous. Yang thinks Jaune is worried about not being there to protect Penny, but Jaune claims the opposite. Penny protects him, and he can't imagine being separated for long.

The groups reunite for the White Fang fight, which gets a bit bigger than in canon. After encouraging Penny to help (while reminding her to not reveal herself), Jaune gets left to hide in a safe corner that doesn't end up being so safe when he's found by White Fang reinforcements. With no choice, Jaune has to use his semblance to protect himself- and manages, for the first time, to deliberately use the paralysis gas at will. Yang, Ruby, and (a more worried) Penny make a comical discovery when they open a warehouse in trepidation only to see the floor covered with White Fang. It's a happy ending to the battle… but one which Roman Torchwick and some White Fang survivors observe as they make their escape, with recognition and remembering the Atlas Crisis of just the other year.

Penny and Jaune get collected by the Atlas military and whisked away in short order. They are, and are not, in trouble. Penny is actually in good standing- having hidden her abilities, Penny's secret is solid and Penny is more trusted. The fact that Jaune used his semblance in a city is alarming- the fact that he did so with no deaths and no collateral damage are extremely promising, and can be used by Ironwood as proof of Project Yellow's potential. The White Fang witnesses are taken into Atlas custody, which raises eyebrows from Ozpin but Ironwood promises to handle that. In the meantime… good job, and you're grounded. The two won't be allowed into the city without an escort- and who better than Winter's responsible, rule-abiding sister?

Feel free to laugh.

Jaune and Penny find themselves in Beacon amongst Ironwood's group of soldiers, and back in touch with Team RWBY. Friendship happens, and as 'guest students' Jaune and Penny get a the punishment/blessing of attending classes at Beacon- a surprisingly sentimental gift from Ironwood which he gets called out on by his subordinates, and a suspicious Ozpin. Ozpin doesn't suspect anything in particular about Penny, but he knows that Jaune is the only survivor of the Arc and town massacre of years ago- a mystery still unsolved, and the truth still classified. Still, Ozpin trusts Ironwood when Ironwood testifies to Jaune's conduct and character, and let's Jaune and Penny in.

Jaune and Penny get to pretend to be normal students, in a 'normal' school, with friends as normal as Team RWBY can be. The two marvel and fall in love with the experience, even as they have to cover up their secrets. Jaune has to dodge combat class after Yang spreads the story of how he knocked out all the White Fang. Penny has to cover a (lack of) eating in various ways that leads to the food fight. A brief spell of school comedy, and love, as Jaune and Penny inseparable nature quickly becomes subject of gossip and speculation. Ruby's already in Penny's corner, but as Penny becomes friends with RWBY the rest of the girls recognize her as a girl in love and support her as she moons after Jaune. Most of RWBY urge her to confess, but Penny is hesitant.

The White Fang rears its head as Blake's obsession returns. Penny and Jaune are part of the investigation team, but once again split- Ruby taking Penny aside out of interest in her love life, and Jaune going with Weiss who is supposed to monitor and keep him out of trouble for Winter.

Ruby, who in enthralled with Jaune and Penny's relationship as a romantic romance between childhood friends, pushes Penny to confess until Penny confesses why she's afraid to. Penny is happy with what she has with Jaune, and afraid that her (still secret) robotic nature would prevent a relationship. Not having to run (Ironwood trusts her on her own, while demands Jaune always be accompanied), Ruby doesn't learn Penny's secret, and so tries to encourage Penny's feelings Jaune would accept her.

Weiss and Jaune bond over their mutual admiration of Winter. Having avoided the flirting of canon, they get off to a much better foot, but when Jaune sees Weiss's friction in dealing with her family he dares to offer his advice. Weiss doesn't want to hear it- what does Jaune know about family- but that's just it. As a self-made orphan Jaune doesn't know what it's like to really grow up with a family, because he didn't. Jaune (very vaguely) references his tragic past- and accepts what happened as an accident, rather than blame himself- when he urges Weiss to not lose her family. They ride the elevator in silence, with Weiss feeling embarrassed at having brought up such a thing- and wondering at how/what Jaune could have done on accident. Weiss just starts to think about looking into the Arcs when Blake's mayday comes in.

Refusing to stand by while her friends need her, Weiss goes- and because she promised to keep watch over Jaune, she drags him along too, rather than leave him in Beacon. Jaune let's himself get dragged away after Weiss overrules his protests and threatens to gag him. Jaune gets dragged as far as the overpass where Weiss intends to jump off and trip the rogue Paladin… but Roman doesn't go for her. The Paladin aims for Jaune directly, and Weiss has to use her glyphs to throw Jaune onto a passing vehicle as the highway mech chase resumes. The mech is stops chasing Blake and Sun to chase Jaune, and Team RWBY and Sun/Neptune are left to wonder why. As she tries to keep Jaune from Roman, Weiss gets a call from Winter, which Jaune answers and starts relaying military information- another big question mark for later, but for now it brings in Atlas bullheads and reinforcements to harry Roman.

Ultimately Roman knocks them off a bridge, and they fight Roman. Jaune is useless in the fight- both target and liability- but the fight is won when Penny comes in at an appropriately dramatic moment to save Jaune. Penny solo's Roman and his mech, and her robotic nature is revealed over the course of the fight when she takes damage from the Paladin while protecting Jaune. Roman leaves via Neo with an ominous taunt towards Jaune- knowing Jaune can't use his semblance to paralyze Roman and Neo without affecting Team RWBY. Roman leave Jaune and Penny to explain Penny's robotic nature to Team RWBY. Team RWBY accepts Penny easily enough at Jaune's urging, and is more concerned about Penny than why Roman was after Jaune rather than Blake and Sun. Team RWBY scatters before the Atlas military comes in to take Jaune and Penny away.

Unlike before at the docks, Jaune and Penny are in real trouble this time. Jaune was put in a life-and-death situation that risked his semblance, and was specifically targeted for his powers by Roman. But while Ironwood is displeased with Jaune, he's disappointed in Penny- this is twice that Jaune has been in trouble alone while Penny was doing things elsewhere. Penny is supposed to be his chaperone/guard- and she's failed to protect Jaune both times- and exposed herself as a robot as well. Clearly she's not good enough, and they should bring in someone else to look after Jaune. Penny wilts, but Jaune stands up for her, and even lies on her behalf to cover up that RWBY knows her robot identity. Ironwood is upset, and decides to ground/confine them both to Beacon until the tournament. They can move around the campus, or come to Ironwood's fleet, but Jaune is explicitly not allowed to leave Beacon- where with hundreds of Hunters-in-training he should be safe. But even so, Penny is not supposed to leave him either.

That's hardly a punishment Penny minds as she and Jaune leave and return to Beacon. In fact, she enjoys it- just as she enjoyed it when Jaune stood up for her both to Team RWBY as her secret came out and to Ironwood himself. As she returns to Beacon, Ruby's advice about confessing echoes in Penny's head, and she decides she wants to try- but she doesn't know the first thing about being a real girl in this sense. Penny goes to Team RWBY, and while they're curious about Penny as a robot they quickly accept her and agree to help. In the lead-up to the Dance, the girls help pretty up Penny to make her attractive, even getting her a more mature, alluring dress, and pull strings with the guys they know (Sun and Neptune) to get Jaune prepped as well. It's successful progress- especially when (once prompted) Jaune formally asks Penny to the dance, rather than just assume that they were going.

The leadup to the dance is a period of excitement and nervousness for Penny, butterflies in her processor, but the dance itself is a flawless success. Despite their awkwardness, despite so many things that could go wrong, Jaune and Penny dance the night away. Penny has fun, both in just having a 'real girl' experience but also in time with Jaune. They've always been close, and Jaune has always been touchy (but not offensively so) since they met, but since her physical upgrades and mental developments Penny enjoys the sensation of touching Jaune back. All of Gepetto's physical and software upgrades are paying off now. The only thing that concerns Penny is the prospect of confessing in private.

When Penny does, she makes a shamble of it, rambling as she tries to explain how she's changed from the immature AI Jaune first knew but is now developing closer to a real girl, struggling with new feelings, and Jaune-

Jaune kisses her softly, even before she finishes confessing.

Jaune is shy, and a bit bashful, but even if others look down on him as a deviant or them as impossible he doesn't regret it. He's had feelings for her too- ever since the Atlas Incident and her saving him from the failsafe- but he wasn't sure she did. Or rather, he wasn't sure that she was ready- physically, mentally, emotionally. But even if she's still a work in progress, even if she has decades of upgrades and iterations ahead of her, she's already a real enough girl for him. He wants to spend that time with her- the only person he could hold, the only person who would hold him, and the only person who could understand all those years in the lab. If she thinks she's ready- then so is he.

It's a complete success for Penny, and she's over the moon well into the night. Though it's far from the first time she and Jaune have slept in the same bed, it's the first time they've done so so tenderly, or intimately. Even after Jaune falls asleep, Penny strokes him gently all night, marveling at how happy she is and how soft he feels to her newest batch of upgraded sensations.

The next morning Team RWBY is happy for them, even as there are questions. What did they do? How did they do it? How could it even work? What exactly can Penny feel anyway? It's deliberately vague how far they went, and Penny is a mix of coy and innocent ignorance- making comments that could be either innocent or far from it.

RWBY is deliciously scandalized, eager to gossip, but ultimately happy for them, and wishes them well at being left behind as Team RWBY prepares for their mission with Oobleck. Jaune and Penny happily see them off- and more eagerly return to the now-empty dorms. RWBY watches and laughs as the Bullhead takes off and they see the new couple hastily rush to the dorms. All except Weiss- who brought some research for reading on the Bullhead ride.

It is a bunch of reports on the deaths of the Arcs, their entire town, and the Atlas Crisis that her sister was involved in a few years ago. Time skips occur as Weiss reads them- and starts to put them together. Weiss remembers how Jaune told her he was to blame for the accident that killed his family. Weiss knows how Jaune somehow put down the White Fang at the docks, yet couldn't do anything when he specifically was specifically targeted by Roman. And Weiss knows her sister was involved in the Atlas Crisis of yesteryear- and knows of SDC's brief use of gas against miners.

By the time Ruby disappears, Weiss has put together who and what Jaune is- and realizes they've been friends with a weapon of mass destruction, right at school. As Team RWBY searches for Ruby, Weiss can only hope she can get to back to Vale and get answers before something bad happens.

Something bad happens. It's called the Breach.

The story bounces back to Penny and Jaune, who still in the glow of a new relationship. When the Breach occurs, they are alarmed and unsure of what they can do to help- but Jaune encourages Penny to go down into Vale and help fight the Grimm. It ties into the fact that they're both 'weapons', and that this is the sort of opportunity they were made for- to use their power for good, and to save people. Jaune's powers are useless against Grimm, but Penny can save many, and Jaune encourages her to go. He'll stay in Beacon, where it's safe with all the other hunters.

Penny goes, hoping that her good performance will win Ironwood's approval to let her take Jaune into Vale for a date, and she'll be a decisive part in minimizing the damage of the Breach. Atlas and Ironwood will earn honors when she holds the line and stops the Breach almost as soon as she arrives. But only after the far worse disaster occurs- Jaune's kidnapping.

The moment Penny leaves, Jaune is blindsided and attacked. As his aura spikes and semblance automatically starts to deploy (non-lethally), Jaune's personal haz-mat suit kicks in. It does what it's meant to do- trapping in his semblance- and Jaune is promptly overpowered and subdued by weapon blows. An unknown (read- Cinder) voice taunts him and the absent Ironwood for leaving him so easy to capture, and orders someone else to take Jaune south, to a safehouse. Cinder enlightens Jaune that he is going to be key to destroying Ironwood and all her enemies.

Instead, Jaune is put on a bullhead that flies east, towards the docks. Surprise and suspicion leads to Jaune witnessing some sudden executions, by faunus in masks. Adam reveals himself, and his double-cross of Cinder. Cinder intended to use Jaune to destroy her enemies. The White Fang will put Jaune to a better cause- and with him, they don't even need Cinder anymore.

Jaune's abduction sparks an immediate crisis. Penny is devastated and shell-shocked, even as Ironwood rushes to recover him. Using his army, Ironwood imposes a crackdown on the White Fang across Vale- nominally to catch the perpetrators of the Breach, but truthfully to find Jaune. Atlas doesn't know who precisely abducted Jaune, but considering the timing the White Fang is the first suspect. Early raids prove it- just missing Jaune as he's moved from place to place, and uncovering the White Fang's intent to repeat the Atlas Incident of yesteryear. Ironwood covers this up, hoping he can avoid a public panic and recover Jaune before anyone realizes the danger Vale is in.

Ironwood's heavy-handed unilateralism alarms Ozpin and other authorities- but at least initially, his role in helping stop the Breach gives him leeway. The truth comes out, however. Weiss puts together the pieces, and is the first to realize the danger. She and Team RWBY confront Penny, who is incredibly distraught and has been since the kidnapping, though Penny's worries are more about Jaune than the danger to the Kingdom. Weiss tries to take it to the teachers, and is followed/held back by her team, and so RWBY and Penny become hidden witnesses to Ozpin's confrontation with Ironwood.

Through his own sources- including a present Qrow- Ozpin/Glynda/Qrow have realized that there's been a split between Queen (Cinder) and the White Fang. The White Fang has gone rogue, and now even Cinder is feeding Ozpin intel in hopes of stopping them before they ruin her plans. Part of that intel was the abduction of Jaune- and the reason why.

Ozpin is furious at James, both for keeping secrets and endangering the whole Kingdom. Because the whole Kingdom _**is** _ in danger, and Ozpin unwittingly blows open the events of Jaune's semblance awakening to Team RWBY. If he was in the right spot, Jaune could accidentally murder most of Vale. In fact, Jaune could have murdered the entire school of Hunters just from being present at the Dance. Ozpin is furious that Ironwood endangered his school and half the kingdom- and demands to know why Ironwood ever brought Jaune here. When Ironwood asks if he was supposed to leave Jaune in containment for all life, or just kill him, Ozpin snaps back a 'yes.'

Ozpin is a good person, but at the end of the day he and the rest of the Beacon faculty believe in 'necessary evils.' Stopping Jaune has become one of them. Alarmed and desperate, Ozpin makes clear that he considers Jaune too dangerous to live within Vale- and that while he'll help Ironwood find him, if there's any risk of Jaune being a threat, he'll kill him. Ozpin also makes clear he doesn't trust Ironwood, and Ironwood is ejected from the shadow-council of Headmasters and trusted figures handling the Maiden issue. The only reason that Ozpin is cooperating with Ironwood for the search, rather than alert the Vale authorities, is of the public panic sure to follow if he did. A panic already heightened by Ironwood's door-to-door searches for Jaune. Until then, the Vytal Festival must proceed as planned to prevent further mass panic.

The adults leave, and Team RWBY (and Penny) are left to deal with the revelations and rammifications. The Team is mixed- shocked at how dangerous Jaune is, but also alarmed that the adult's answer is to just kill him. Having gotten to know him as a person, and knowing he doesn't have ill will, Team RWBY isn't sure how to proceed.

Neither is Qrow- who is the one who finds them, and realizes they overheard. Qrow is unhappy, but not at them. He's unhappy at Ironwood for being heavy-handed, and unhappy with Ozpin for going straight to a lethal solution, but he can't blame either of them. Not even Ironwood for trying to let Jaune live a life. Qrow tries to tell the girls to not let personal feelings get in the way of necessity, but despite some harsh words (including questioning the legitimacy of Penny's feelings- asking if her emotions are just programs that could be rewritten), he's not happy with a death sentence either. All he can do is promise to try and help save Jaune, and advises the girls to prepare for the Vytal Festival as normal.

Qrow does not elaborate about the Maidens, which the eavesdroppers briefly overheard. All he says is that they could be the only force that could possibly match Jaune's semblance.

The girls return to the dorms. Despite Qrow's advice to stay out of the way, they won't. They resolve to help Penny find and rescue Jaune as best they can. It's White Fang Investigation 2.0 in the lead-in to the Festival. Penny, who has been remarkably subdued and inactive in her depression, is moved and starts to hope.

The narrative jumps around a bit in terms of time and characters. There's a disjointed effort as Ozpin, Ironwood, Qrow/Winter, Team RWBY, and even Cinder search for the White Fang and Jaune, to marginal effects. Adam was hiding a lot of things from Cinder, and none of the parties truly trust eachother.

Team RWBY leads their own investigation. The White Fang resumes a number of burglaries of SDC- and targets the same tech that Winter used to contain and preserve Jaune's semblance gas. This brings back in Winter (who is called in by Ironwood to help in the investigation), and the topic of burglaries brings their minds to Roman. Penny and Winter pull strings to bring RWBY along to confront Roman, who knew more about the White Fang than Cinder. It's Roman who provides the thieve's insight as to the White Fang's audacious plan. Go big or go home: rather than set Jaune off in Vale and wipe out part of the Kingdom once, why not steal Amity Colloseum?

It would be the crime of the century. Not only would all the audiance be hostage, but Amity could float over and rain down poison death over any Kingdom it wanted. Instead of merely indiscriminate killing of human and faunus alike, the White Fang could blackmail the kingdoms into whatever they wanted unless. The perfect climax to the climate of fear that's taken ahold of the city as the populace is realizing something is wrong thanks to Ironwood and Ozpin's searches.

RWBY share their findings with the adults, but the festival and the tournament aren't called off. With Jaune still missing, canceling the festival only lets the White Fang keep hiding him, and use him somewhere else. Some precautions are taken, but the decision is made that Jaune will have to be caught when he's brought aboard during the tournament. At such a critical point, though, and with so many innocent bystanders… even Ironwood has to concede the danger, and accepts Ozpin's demand of snipers with shoot-to-kill orders across the stadium.

Throughout it all, Penny is despondant and depressed, afraid for Jaune and afraid that she might never get to see him again. As Atlas and even Ironwood start talking about Jaune in impersonal terms of 'the objective' or 'the target,' it seems she's the only one who still sees him as a person and wants to save him. Team RWBY gradually convinces her otherwise- urging her to start acting and participate- but Penny still worries how Jaune is doing.

The answer is not well. In interim shots, the status of Jaune is told. Jaune is locked away in an impromptu lab, expected to produce semblance gas. Jaune does his best to resist threats, fear, and even basic beatings by zealot faunus to make him produce his gas, and is successful at first. Jaune has multiple opportunities to use his semblance to kill his guards- but unsure of who else who could be effected, and unwilling to kill, Jaune passes on the opportunities and waits for rescue. But while Jaune is defiant, Adam is determined. After failing to convince Jaune to produce his gas willingly, Adam resorts to torturing it out of him using drones and robots. It's distasteful, but necessary, and so Adam slowly starts to assemble the stockpile he needs for his plan to blackmail the world.

The Vytal Festival begins, and it's not going well. The unofficial state of Martial Law at Amity Colosseum and across Vale has the public in near-panic. Ozpin's discretion is no more effective than Ironwood's heavyhanded nature, and Qrow has nothing either. Even Cinder's plan to salvage the situation is derailed- after one too many leak, Adam leaks Cinder's identity in turn, and Cinder's team has to flee the country and abandon her scheme for the moment. It's the only good news in weeks, but no one can appreciate it.

The girls do their fights, but every battle is just an interim in their ongoing search for Jaune and the White Fang, who are sure to be making their move any time now. No one can figure where the White Fang is or how they'll be smuggling Jaune in, though- nor until the finals, when Ruby notices some faunus maintenance workers sneaking around just before Penny and the unbeatable Pyrrha Nikos prepare for their match.

When Jaune and Adam rise through the floor in a special arena change… they realize that Jaune was in the maintenance section all along, along with his stockpiled gas. The White Fang used maintenance workers to sneak aboard, and hijack the stadium controls. Team RWBY tries to take them, but faces stiff resistance.

Jaune and Adam are within the battle arena, and everyone is out- and that's just how Adam planned it. The same forcefield that keeps errant shots from harming the audience is keeping the guards from shooting Jaune. But the forcefield doesn't keep everything out- air passes through, and so will Jaune's semblance.

The world watches in horror as Adam explains everything- the massacre of the Arcs, the Atlas Incident, and now this. The reason that Ironwood and Ozpin had been on such high alert. Adam's narrative echoes Cinder's own- that this is all the fault of the untrustworthy establishment- with a White Fang twist. Adam's climax is that it's only appropriate that the White Fang do this- racist humans made monsters out of faunus, and a weapon out of Jaune.

That's not true!

Jaune, who had been bound and gagged, manages to remove the gag to protest. Jaune proclaims that he is Jaune Arc, and he is not a weapon- and he won't harm anyone if he can help it. It's a hope spot, and the audience holds its breath.

Adam says it's no longer Jaune's choice, that a demonstration is in order, and stabs him.

Stabbed, Jaune begins to cough blood- and his semblance begins to leak out. As yellow miasma flows across the stage and towards the audience, sheer bloody panic breaks out as the Beacon instructors shout for everyone to take the high ground. A riot nearly erupts as civilians scramble over eachother to higher seating, even as the 'moat' begins to fill around the stadium.

Then the ground cracks, and the mist falls, as a battlefield change emerges from underneath.

Ruby and Team RWBY have recaptured the inner-working of the stadium, and the means that Adam used to rise from underneath. Up go the only people who could survive Jaune's semblance- Penny, and… Pyrrha?

The Invincible Pyrrha, best in the school, is covered by a sphere of wind that keeps the miasma from affecting her. No one else knows why or how, but Ironwood realizes what it is- Pyrrha has been selected by Ozpin to become the Fall Maiden, and without a reason to refuse she accepted and now has the Maiden's powers. Not all of them, but enough to never let Jaune's gas touch her.

Penny and Pyrrha team up to fight Adam, and win. Adam is strong, but victory comes in puncturing his hazmat suit. A single puncture let's in just a little of Jaune's gas- and Adam laughs. He realizes he's doomed, but so is either Jaune or the crowd, and Adam soon falls still.

There's no cheering. Penny rushes to Jaune's side, trying to help him, but he's hurt and still generating semblance gas- gas which is slowly rising up the bleachers. With no way to stop it- not even a hazmat suit to contain Jaune in- Pyrrha sees only one way to stop the rise of the gas.

Pyrrha will have to kill Jaune.

Penny refuses, not when she's finally found him again, and refuses to back down even when Ironwood orders her to. She proclaims her love, and fights. Pyrrha is unhappy- she doesn't want to be a murderer, she's honestly jealous that Penny has friends and someone she loves despite just showing up to Beacon- but Pyrrha is committed to doing the 'right' thing. While Penny's abilities are enough to compete with a Maiden, she's no match for Pyrrha's natural semblance. Magnetic manipulation hurts Penny time and time again, but even after she's severely damanged- even after her inner workings are exposed and horrify the audience- Penny refuses to give up. Because, again, she loves Jaune.

Despite the context- despite the fear- the audience's sympathy lies with Penny. Some even cheer for her, the girl fighting for love.

Pyrrha finally accepts that Penny won't quit so long as she can continue fighting- and finishes her off ala canon. Penny is bisected by her own wires, and torn apart, falling at Jaune's feet. Jaune screams, and embraces her, and Pyrrha faces boos as she approaches and prepares to finish off Jaune. When she notices, she's taken aback at the lack of support- and lowers her guard just long enough for Jaune to grab her.

Aura-to-aura contact is the other way Jaune can use his semblance, and Pyrrha's wind-orb is no defense against direct contact. Pyrrha is paralyzed, unable to scream, as Jaune begins to work into a rage. Across the story Jaune has been afraid, Jaune has been depressed, and Jaune has even been happy, but this is the first time that he's ever been angry- and his semblance gas takes an even more sinister tint and volatility. Jaune is paralyzing Pyrrha for now, but very clearly intends to murder her for what she's done to Penny. If everyone is going to treat him like a mass-murderer- if that's all anyone can see him as- then he's SHOW them what he can do! Jaune intends to deliberately invoke his lethal semblance…

Until Penny stops him. Even with only an arm and her head attached to her torso, Penny still functions- weakly- and begs Jaune to stop. This isn't who he is- he's no more a weapon than she is. The boy she loved wouldn't be the weapon everyone feared. He'd choose to hold her instead. With her power cells fading, Penny reaches out for him, promising that no matter what she'll be there with him until the last. She is what he chooses to be.

Jaune releases Pyrrha, embraces Penny, and awaits what may. Jaune's red cloud turns a soft white as the battlefield barrier is finally lowered, and Ozpin orders the snipers to shoot Jaune.

Ozpin countermands them not to, and orders the robotic guards to take Jaune to safety.

Ozpin and Ironwood are opposed again, and the argument of before resumes. A fight between Hunters and Atlas military is sure to follow- between Ozpin, who won't take any more risks, and Ironwood, who believes the battle is over.

But it's Ruby who commands attention when she pops up from under the stage. Followed by the rest of Team RWBY, who had disabled the forcefield and braved (and stumbled into) Jaune's semblance in the process. It's Team RWBY's survival- without any negative effects- that shows Jaune's semblance has taken a third effect- something benign.

Jaune's semblance, always tied to his emotions (fear for survival = death, self-control=paralysis), is now reflecting his new state of mind- peace. With Penny, and not afraid of death so long as he's with her, Jaune's semblance gas is harmless. In fact, it might even have beneficial aspects.

Not even realizing they're in the lessening semblance-fog, Team RWBY sees the people on stage and move to help. They (Blake) are also the first to realize that Adam isn't even dead- he's paralyzed, just like Pyrrha. They call for a doctor to help- and seeing the girls unharmed, members of the audience begin to move below the gas line. A few becomes many becomes a rush, even as shouts begin calling for doctors for Penny and Jaune. There are people in trouble, after all.

Ironwood and Ozpin's standoff fades away as civilians ignore them both, and relief fills the stadium, the Kingdom, and the entire world that is watching.

Far below, Jaune holds Penny, and Penny weakly squeezes his hand and smiles.

/

The epilogue is in Jaune's containment cell, home once more. Jaune and Penny survived, and the Vytal Festival became a crisis with global fallout.

Both Ironwood and Ozpin lost their jobs, for one- Ironwood was courtmarshaled and discharged for reckless endangerment, and Ozpin for failing to stop the White Fang from both the Breach and the Vytal Crisis. While both remain on non-speaking terms, both have been succeeded by their subordinates who carry on the remaining tasks.

While not a General or the Headmaster of Atlas's Academy (yet), Winter has taken over Ironwood's special projects division- including Jaune and Penny. SDC ensures that both remain funded, and Winter has made sure that neither project is either exploited as weapons or, as some politicians tried after the crisis, terminated. While he's formally retired, Ironwood still has significant informal influence and is even a consultant/manager for Jaune's project. The two have even gotten closer- and Ironwood has even personally stood without a Hazmat suit in Jaune's presence as part of a demonstration of Jaune's newly-found benign semblance gas, which is discovered to have healing properties.

At Beacon, Ozpin has been succeeded by Ms. Goodwitch. Glynda runs the school with an iron whip, while Ozpin's 'retirement' is actually an opportunity to be free to investigate Cinder along with Uncle Qrow. If- when- they find her, Jaune's non-lethal semblance gas is their primary weapon to taking her down and alive.

Or so say Team RWBY, on a video-call from Beacon to Jaune's cell enabled by Winter. While Jaune is back in containment- the authorities too afraid to let him out after the near disaster of before- this time the fear is as much to protect him from the world as the other way around. Along with TV and more privacy, Jaune is allowed contact with outsiders, and according to Team RWBY there's a lot of public sympathy for Jaune and Penny as well. A lot of people saw Jaune as the victim, who was stabbed and nearly murdered but who still didn't kill anyone. SDC is also publicizing his new semblance for healing properties- a PR path that's getting Jaune a lot of positive interest.

Jaune and Penny- together as always- are happy to hear it, but don't know when it will make a difference. It wasn't the White Fang that kidnapped Jaune, after all- it was Cinder, and she's still at large. Until she's caught, it's unlikely the Council will be willing to risk Jaune being free again.

Team RWBY doesn't like that, but there's a resolve that stopping Cinder is a solution. Pyrrha is already tasked to it, and Team RWBY wants to help as well- and wonders if Penny will to?

Penny is unsure. She and Jaune are together- truly together- and she has a number of new upgrades pending that she wants to test out. But despite that, Jaune encourages her to go out- even as she doesn't want to leave him- so that she can help stop Cinder so they can take that long-delayed date to Vale.

RWBY is happy, and the friends promise to meet up again the next time Jaune is freed from containment. The call ends, and Jaune and Penny cuddle. The two reminisce about how long it's been and how far they come, and are comfortable in their love together.

As the story ends, Jaune makes reference to the upgrades Penny mentioned- upgrades that have no combat application whatsoever, now that Ironwood isn't around to stop Gepetto from pursuing his pet project. Penny coyly points out that Jaune didn't mind them last night. The two kiss, with Penny holding Jaune's hand and pulls him up..

Jaune reaches out and pulls the privacy curtain- blinds on the inside of the familiar observation room- and goes with Penny towards their bedroom.

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End

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Coeur's Impression:

Weapon, there isn't much to say here that CF hasn't pipped me on. the story feels a lot more cognizant, and as CF says the new Amity clash opens up a lot of new opportunities. It has for a lot our fills tbh, as most of the time we were forced to consider the Breach as the culmination of Cinder's plans.

Now I dislike Penny, it's not her fault, her character development is purposefully bad, to fit the whole robot thing - but still, I dislike her as character. That doesn't mean i can't appreciate this though, and I do. I particularly liked Ironwood in this, and how he loses his job at the end - because hey, the world isn't fair, and pretending it is just makes a story feel weak.

Consequences, those are important - incredibly so.

Ozpin here felt good too, a different twist on the man, playing him as the necessity card where Ironwood otherwise normally is.

The reason i suggested an ever-present antagonist though... it's not an issue in a summary like this, but if you consider that the only antagonist for the first 65% of the story is effectively Jaune's semblance itself?

Well... it might becoming boring - in a full fic. Assuming this is 100,000 words, that means 65,000 of them (rough approx) are spent in a containment chamber. That could lead to a bit of fatigue on the reader's part, and even the author's tbh. That's why I felt an antagonist could be a nice touch, as whenever it starts to get a bit dragged out, they can appear and mess stuff up.

Something to consider, but it's not an issue in a summary like this.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

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I've known for awhile that I wanted to re-do my first fill of the Writer Games. I didn't realize how much until I watched Season 3. From the start I regretted making the Season 2 climax the resolution- it missed the Dance as a romantic moment, and the Breach itself seemed too sudden. But as soon as I saw Amity Colosseum, I knew what the climax had to be- a floating hostage crisis, Jaune as the weapon, and Penny fighting for him to save him not only from the White Fang, but those who would sacrifice him to protect others. I'm glad I did this.

Looking back to what I originally outlined, this is what happens when I let an idea digest and develop. It doesn't just get longer, but more developed. It's amazing how summarized this all was when I look back at the original fill. Sure, entirely new things were added- Winter was a post-Season 3 addition- but it's also impressive how much of... this, simplifies into all of that. Writer Games really has become my way of writing out stories without writing stories.

(Coeur hates that, BTW. Keeps insisting I return to writing real stories.)

Besides that reminiscing... some thoughts on villains.

I ultimately chose the White Fang as the ultimate villain because 'rogue actor' made sense for them. Jaune's semblance is such that it posses a credible threat to anyone in the setting- even the Maidens. Jaune might not be as powerful, but he is as dangerous, and so letting the White Fang go rogue was a good way to move Cinder out of the picture and diverge from the canon plot. Adam gets to be a bit more villainous- but also have a more sensible game plan. Amity Colosseum as a floating station of doom to blackmail the world was a delicious idea that I wish I'd had more time or opportunity to develop. Maybe a 'proof of concept' in which Adam and the White Fang used paralysis gas on a population. Something to consider, at least- even these mega-fills have their shortcomings. (And I was getting tired.)

Coeur brought up to me that he thought there should have been a more consistent/reoccuring villain. Something like GAF being a broader character from start to finish, someone for Jaune's growth to be measured against. I thought about it, but ultimately I thought it better not to. Jaune's enemy is more his semblance than any single person. And everyone else didn't make much sense as a personal antagonist. GAF, by his nature/role as a sudden intrusion to upset the status quo and authority figures, only made sense as a later entry once the authority figures have been established. If he was there from the start, Ironwood and Winter wouldn't be the safe authority figures. On the other hand, someone like Adam was never a personal foe for Jaune. It would have been extremely contrived to force that, and so the White Fang incident was more of a future foreshadowing and catalyst for Jaune's freedom/growth past his fears than a personal nemissis.

I suppose there are two ways I could have let in reoccuring foes. One would have been 'The Hazmat'- say the initial project leader, one of the Hazmats who Jaune fears. Such a character- likely hitting Jaune with weapons to force compliance, and more of the amoral cruel scientist angle- could have been a reoccuring threat for Jaune. The Hazmat would/could have been Jaune's personal nemisis- someone who hated/never let Jaune forget what he did, who was overthrown by Ironwood, but who supports GAF in his administrative coup against Ironwood. Hazmat would have ultimately been defeated (non-violentally) at Jaune's escape from the lab, where Hazmat's fear/loathing is contrasted by all the unprotected soldiers who aren't dying.

Adam could have been a separate reoccuring nemisis- but for Penny, not Jaune. Between the Atlas Incident, the Docks, the White Fang Rally, and Amity, that could have been three opportunities for Adam to cross blades with Penny, and possibly realize what she was and taunt her/make her question her humanity. Like, in Round One Adam is simply stronger, and mocks Penny as just a machine, but Penny is able to do a dirty trick (paralysis gas?) to win the battle and then race back to Jaune. In the second battle, Adam is still superior- and mocks her as a poor imitation of flesh- and makes her question if she's real enough for Jaune. While in the final battle, Penny accepts her robotic nature without shame, because it lets her save Jaune, and caring is what makes her a real girl.

Thoughts, at least. They might have even been better- the first half is mostly Jaune, but Penny steals the attention and viewpoint in the second half, so a change of villains would have been appropriate. I don't feel it's a real weakness here- 'actual writing' wouldn't be directly proportional to the summary's focus- but if Coeur can make me think of these this late? I owe him thanks for making things better once again.

(Thanks Coeur!)

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Special Author's Note: Personal Favorite Fills

Continuing our not-at-all self-congratulatory shout outs, her's my own favorite fill from Coeur's. If someone- anyone- were able to write these stories and do them justice, they'd get a place a pride on my favorite's list.

(And if anyone wants to try- please, please do. We encourage anyone who wants to adopt any of our story ideas to do so.)

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College Fool's No.1 Coeur Story... hasn't actually posted yet.

College Fool's Runner Up... Dating What Daddy Hates (Ch. 36)

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Here's a story I didn't expect to like as much as I did. I am (usually) not a crack shipper. Weiss is not my favorite female character in the show, and Sun is not my favorite male character. And yet, Coeur gave one of his best romance stories of the Games- and a strong demonstration of the merits of a solid foundation and story structure.

Coeur has had better drama, and higher stakes, or more polished romances, but few things as measured and plausible despite being entirely unpredicted. Coeur took a cliche premise- the 'fake a relationship for Reasons'- and took it places. Good places, using well-matched characters (Weiss as the damsel, Sun as the 'what Daddy hates'), in-lore premise (business deals and racism), and gradual character development to slowly build a story and a romance. There were no absolute villains, the rival wasn't a strawman character, and there were no histronics.

Instead of painful cliches, Coeur put polish on old tropes and made them shine, so that by the end two characters who seemed to have no business being together, belonged. It's far, far better than what Weiss's canon pairing is (a low bar, to be sure), but it's also far better than what most romance fiction is about. And it's measured, to- with a start, and plot, and an end that doesn't engage in indefinite and endless romantic trials that get tedius. Dating What Daddy hate is a great example of the creativity allowed by fanfiction, and how following a proven story structure format can help you get there.


	61. Special: Wish

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

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College Fool's Prompt: N/A

(In which Coeur dropped a fill, and offered something else in exchange.)

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Coeur's Humble Apology:

Hey everyone. So I tried to take part in re-do week as we had arranged, before coming to a rather abrupt conclusion. I can't do it, basically. Writing for me needs to be fun, and the prompts and challenges can be fun at times, but going back and re-doing ones that I've already done just becomes torturous. I basically spent all my time at work on tuesday trying to write something, then until 9pm at home.

I wrote about 8,000 words on a new "Curious Courtship of Jaune Arc" - which was really crap, about 5,000 on a new "In their Shadows" re-do... which got bored and died. Then I did another 5k or so on the prostitute Jaune one... but again, and herein lays the problem for me. They're done. Finished. I also tried 3k into Beacon Civil War version 2, but that died the same death.

Some weren't perfect, many had places they could be improved - but they're finished. I sat down, I thought about them and I wrote something out, and going back to them all i can see is that exact same story.

Going back just doesn't feel possible for me... I did it with Democracy, but then.. did I? It's so different from the original story that it might as well BE a new one, and while I tried that with this one too - trying to reinvent old prompts in new ways, the pleasure and joy wasn't there. It was flogging a dead horse, and I realised with a tired sigh that I'd been flogging it for around 8 hours, and now will be behind on work tomorrow.

So I gave up on it, it wasn't working and won't. This isn't anyone's fault per se, I'm buried in writing in my life anyway... I mean I write for work, I write two fics every single week and I write this. I could only ever do that if it was fun, but it's one of those things where it's very easy to go from fun to work (because it IS work for me). Going back and re-editing things... now that is work, it's what I do all the time in the magazines, so yeah :P

Sorry!

Here's something else instead.

-Coeur

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C.F.'s not so humble addendum-

This is my fault because I like fixing my mistakes, but Coeur doesn't make enough to be worth fixing.

Well, that and that the ideas Coeur wants to redo, really fall more under 'continuation week.' They have some retroactive corrections, but Coeur has a hang-up about stopping halfway through. And still won't write me that fluffy Lancaster I keep asking for.

So Coeur wants to write some new stuff, and didn't have something to replace this, because I've got a special of sorts waiting for the weekend. So until then- enjoy this gem of Coeur's, and one of his best concepts to date.

Also, grab a tissue. Or a box. You'll want it.

Enjoy,

C.F.

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Title: Making a Difference  
Genre: Friendship / Tragedy  
Summary: Jaune Arc was in a rut, unhappy with his life and job as a nurse in one of Vale's busiest hospitals. But when a young girl with a terminally ill disease comes into his ward, life begins to gain more colour.

Note:This will include a muted kind of romance - it would be easy to have Jaune fall for the terminally ill, but that's an overdone romantic tragedy to be honest, so I wanted to do something different. Just throwing out there that there's an obvious romance option there.

Structure: This obviously does not meet the 7-beat structure, I would probably say it more suits the Fichtean curve, but adapted a little.

AU: No Grimm in this world, modern-world AU (GASP! Because you know how much I hate these too, that's why it's such a challenge!)

Arc1:  
Intro/Setting: Jaune Arc is a nurse in Vale's hospital. He always wanted to be a hero, and saving lives seemed like the obvious choice, however his academics weren't up to par to become a doctor. He serves as a nurse while he continues night courses for his next exams. He works at the prestigious Vale Hospital under Head Doctor Lie Ren, with Doctor Blake Belladonna, and ambulance driver Nora Valkyrie.

Jaune is not content with his life. Instead of his dreams of saving people his job ranges from menial tasks, to cleaning up after the ill, all the way through to watching people die. He feels he can't ever make a difference, and that he has messed up his life. But he continues studying, hoping he can graduate his next exams and move to a new hospital to make a new name for himself. Doctor Lie is distant and efficient, and while Miss Belladonna is polite enough, she can't be called friendly. Nora is his best friend at the hospital, who keeps trying to cheer him up.

Introduction of Conflict: Jaune's typical day doldrums are interrupted by the introduction of a new patient to their ward, Miss Ruby Rose, a fifteen year old student who has recently been rushed into hospital due to her terminal illness. She is expected to have only a little over a week to live, and since her strength is failing she has to spend her final days in the hospital. Jaune's first meeting with her is stilted, as Ruby's sister Yang, and best friend Weiss are there - with Weiss berating him for failing to bring Ruby anything to drink, and Yang giving him threatening looks.

Jaune is polite to Ruby, but distant at first. He doesn't know how to act around someone slated to die like this. He feels pity for her, and wishes he could do something, but at the same time isn't sure what the point of getting to know her is - because she'll soon be gone. Ruby on the other hand is bubbly and friendly to him, something he can't understand at all. She laughs and giggles and tries to engage him in conversation at every moment, until without even realising, he finds himself spending more time looking after her.

Ruby's doctor is Blake, who notices this, taking Jaune aside and thanking him personally for being so kind to her. Jaune asks if there isn't anything they can do, but Blake says it is completely incurable. She will die. She asks if Jaune won't consider spending more time with her, to ease her passing. Jaune agrees.

Arc 2 -  
Raising the Stakes - Jaune continues to become closer friends with Ruby, which neither Yang nor Weiss seem to fully appreciate. He learns more about Ruby, who once dreamed of fighting in tournaments like her idol Pyrrha Nikos.

Conflict 2: Yang hates everyone and everything about the hospital, and in an argument finally admits it's because Ruby is scared of dying in such a place, and wanted to die at home - but the hospital wouldn't let her saying it's too unsafe for her. Jaune is taken back, and apologises - saying he believes Ruby should have the choice to choose her own end too. Yang capitulates and allows him to be Ruby's friend. Jaune also finds out at this time that Ruby's bed is chained to the wall - due to fears Yang might try to kidnap Ruby and take her home, Yang can't remove Ruby from the machines that keep her alive. So Ruby is basically imprisoned at the hospital, even if it's for her own good.

Falling Action/Consequences: Jaune and Yang now work together to keep Ruby happy. Jaune spends all his free time with her, playing games and chatting about his and her life. Now that he knows (even if Ruby always keeps it secret) that she is scared of the hospital, he doesn't ever want to leave her alone. He takes to sleeping in the ward in a bed near her, and doesn't just fail his next exam - he doesn't even show for it. She has so little time left that he doesn't want to waste any of it.

Jaune is pulled into the office with Doctor Lie, who advises Jaune not to get emotionally involved with terminal patients like that. It's a tense argument, which Ren agrees to keep off the record. In the end Ren admits that he too was once in Jaune's shoes, and it was losing his new best-friend to their illness that caused him to become as closed off and efficient as he is now. He says he doesn't want that for Jaune - because as much as the blonde cannot see it, the patients genuinely love his idealistic and helpful attitude. The two don't so much become friends as reach an understanding.

Crisis: When Jaune gets in the next day it's to see Blake at Ruby's bedside, along with Yang and Weiss. He panics and asks what's wrong. Ruby flat lined during the day, but they managed to bring her back. Ruby weakly apologises for worrying Jaune, and in tears he tells her not to be silly. The two promise to watch the championship fight together on the TV in two day's time - with Ruby promising that she will stay alive long enough for that to happen. Yang promises to be there too, as does Weiss. It will be a slumber party.

The Quest: Jaune speaks with Weiss privately after that discussion, and at first Weiss is as skeptical and harsh as she always is. Jaune explains that Ruby has become such an inspiration and friend to him that he wants to make her last wish come true even better than before. He says since Weiss is rich and has influence, could she get them all tickets to the championships. Weiss soon becomes excited at the idea, promising she will go further and use her influence to secure Ruby a meeting with Pyrrha.

Yang is into the idea too, and the three of them plot how it will go down. Jaune just needs to get approval from the hospital, and it will all go ahead.

Crisis: Head Doctor Lie won't give approval, he says he cannot as it goes against everything the hospital stands for - as the quality of care Ruby would receive would certainly drop. She'd go from having hours to mere minutes, and he doesn't believe she would even make it to the arena. Jaune is furious and wheedles and begs with the man, to no avail. Patience broken Jaune throws a punch towards Ren, who disarms him using martial arts. Jaune is dispirited and broken, and Lie explains that he doesn't want to be cruel - and won't report Jaune for this, not for wanting to do his best for someone.

Jaune continues to beg, from face-down on the floor trying to break through to the man, saying that wouldn't his best friend have wanted their final wish completing. In the end Doctor Lie says he cannot allow it, and Jaune leaves.

When he gets back to the ward, Yang asks him how it went, and right as he is about to say he failed, he finds the keys in his pocket. Shocked, he looks back towards Lie's office. Jaune explains what has happened, and that they can't legally do this. Yang says she doesn't care about the law, not in the face of her sister. And after a brief moment, Jaune agrees.

The Major Event: The day of the tournament comes and Weiss texts to let them know that they have tickets, front-row seats and of course can completely skip any queues, etc... Jaune and Yang make a plan to sneak Ruby out and then hijack an ambulance to get her to the arena. Ruby wakes up during the sneaking, asking where they are going and Jaune explains. She is incredibly weak, but visibly ecstatic.

They are caught on the way out by security however, and as they are chased to the car park Yang decides to stay behind and hold them off. She knows she won't get to be there when Ruby dies, but shouts that she loves her so much. Ruby manages to shout it back, and Jaune wheels Ruby to the ambulances as tears stream down Yang's face. The blonde brawler dives into the fray, doing her best to hold them back.

Jaune reaches the ambulance, just in time for the back doors to swing open. Nora is there, as is Blake - and for a moment he believes they've failed. Nora grins however, and helps Ruby into the back while Blake winks at Jaune and starts talking to Ruby about how fun the tournament is going to be. Jaune leaps into the passenger's seat and they race off, siren blazing. There is a near-miss here where Ruby is fading, but after being reminded of her promise to Jaune steels herself and promises to hold on.

They reach the arena just in time to wheel Ruby off and rush her towards the stage. Nora and Blake say they're going to stay at the ambulance and try to delay the police who are surely after them now. Jaune alone wheels Ruby into the arena, just in time for the final match.

Pyrrha is incredible, dismantling her foe with impressive skill - and Ruby is completely elated, tears streaming down her face as she finally gets to see what she dreamed of for so many years. As the show ends and the redhead holds up the trophy she steps off the stage and approaches them, honouring her promise to meet Ruby in person.

The conversation is a little awkward, but it hardly matters. Ruby is so overwhelmed by everything, and it shows. From her tears, to the way her voice cracks - to the first truly honest smile he has ever seen on her face. She turns to Jaune, thanking him and saying how much she loves him - he's the bestest friend ever. She then asks him if he will do one last favour for her. Look after Yang and Weiss for her, they may act brave - but they're both so hopeless.

Jaune promises, and with a final smile, Ruby dies.

Pyrrha is moved to tears, as is Jaune, but the moment is crushed when police storm the arena - pointing their guns at Jaune. With barked commands he sinks to his knees as they surround him, one comments that the patient is dead - and calls Jaune a murderer before knocking him unconscious with the butt of his gun.

Falling Action:  
Jaune and Yang are in a court room, listening to a prosecution lawyer accusing them of murder. Blake and Nora are kept separate, accused of assisted homicide and criminal negligence. There is a general lambasting of the two of them, with no defence. But Jaune and Yang grip hands beneath the table, both conveying that they have no regrets for what they did for Ruby.

Jaune doesn't ever believe they will be released from prison, but he thinks to himself that he has finally found purpose - something he felt he had been missing for so long.

Right as the verdict is about to be given however, the door slams open as a tall woman marches into the room. She dismisses the sentencing immediately, citing a lack of adequate defence and poor representation. She tears into the case, demanding a new judge due to the failures of the current one to secure correct representation and support for the defendants.

The judge demands to know who the hell she is, and with a grin the woman introduces herself as Winter Schnee, Premier Defence Attorney of Atlas- "And I'm here," she said, as she addressed not only the judge but also all those watching, "to see my clients walk free."

Last chapter ends at that, with Yang whispering something about Weiss always coming through.

Epilogue:

The Epilogue is actually a news report from Lisa Lavender, discussing how the Ruby Rose Foundation has now completed their 1,000th last wish - granting final wishes to terminally ill patients, no matter the cost or difficulty.

She commentates on it a little, how it is run by Jaune and Yang Arc, a couple who lost someone precious to them years ago - and now wish to do for others what they did for her. With dedicated Professional Doctors such as Lie Ren and Blake Belladonna, as well as ambulance driver Nora Valkyrie, the Ruby Rose Foundation helps hundreds of people each year.

The SDC fund the Foundation, and have said they are proud to be associated with such a selfless organisation, and will continue to provide funding so long as wishes are granted. There is also a brief comment somewhere about Mistralean Grand Champion Pyrrha Nikos also being associated with the Ruby Rose Foundation - and that when she isn't raising money to support them, she too goes out to complete Final Wishes.

There's a quote read out from Jaune, about how someone very special once helped him find his true purpose in life - and how in this world, it's the smallest people who make the biggest difference. That's what Ruby Rose, and this Foundation stood - and will continue to stand for.

Story ends after that news report.

/

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C.F.'s Reaction:

I love this one, and have ever since Coeur first shared it with me. For quite some time Coeur didn't want to post this, with the idea of writing it as a fanfic- something I heartily supported, even if Coeur's usual rom-com readership would have been heartbroken. Or did I support it because of that? Plans changed, and this was Coeur's piece to make up for not doing a re-do, and can I say it's beautiful? It's sad- tears in my eyes when I first read it- but also cathartic. A feeling of emptiness, but smiling. The fact that the story is upfront that Ruby is going to die, and yet I got attached anyway and cared? Excellence.

There are a number of ways to do tragedy and drama. Some tragedies break people. Some make people suffer. But few build people as people, and leave them happier at the end. That's what happens here- with Jaune, and Ruby, and most of their friends. There are a number of touching moments here, but I think the most touching was the scene with Yang's final moment with and for Ruby- fighting to let Ruby have her wish come true, and shouting how much she loves her. That was a moment for her, just as Jaune promising Ruby to look after his friends made him, and the image of both of them holding hands beneath the table in the courtroom was vivid and believable. A rare case of how you can see the start of that implicit relationship in the epilogue, and how Ruby has such an effect on them. Weaker writers might be tempted to give Ruby a miraculous survival, but Ruby's death truly sells the moment, and the story, and the non-miraculous setting.

Oh, I suppose I could criticism somethings if I had to. That Ruby's diagnosis is remarkably prophetic in when she'll die, that she has convenient last strength for last words, that the authorities seem overwhelmingly unreasonable over over-reacting. I could criticize... but why would I want to?

This is a beautiful piece, and anyone who says otherwise lacks a soul.

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Coeur's Reflection:

There you go, something else. It's not a prompt from CF, I just sort of came up with it on my own and went with it. This is possibly the only story where I would honestly request no one takes it. Because I want to convert it into a visual novel. Of course, even if you took it for a fanfiction, you'd have no rights to it - and a plot like this would possibly be one of the hardest to actually write compared to any of my others.

Either way, I like this story - I'm very proud of it, it sort of came out of nowhere but hits that perfectly difficult zone of "happy tragedy" - Ruby dies, but she died well. She died happy, and she died with more love at the end of her life than she'd had before. Similarly, Jaune grew as well. From someone unsure of where to go with his life, to a man with a mission.

He avoided a fate he wasn't aware he didn't want, and even brought Ren out of that unhappy place too. Everyone grows together, everyone moves on - and hey, look. It's a modern world AU that isn't a high school or university fic, that already elevates it above most others in my mind lol.

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Special Author's Note: Personal Favorite Fills

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College Fool's No.1 Story - Chapter 61 - Wish

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It's this story. It's just that good.


	62. Re-do: With Family Like This 20

The Writer Games (Or Something)

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the Jaune story concepts that followed.

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Coeur's Prompt- Growing up in a Hunter Family was hard for Jaune, especially with Glynda Goodwitch as a mother, and Roman Torchwick as his father.

Re-do of With Family Like This

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C.F.'s Fill:

The story begins in the Yellow Trailer. Blonde hair, long, walking into the club. Eyes turn to track the impressive figure. The bartender, Junior, takes notice as the beauty orders a Strawberry Sunrise and begins to pump the bartender for information on a missing person.

Then the doors slide open, and Yang walks in to see Glynda Goodwitch at the bar, already occupying her own source for a missing person.

Glynda disapproves of Yang's intent to order a drink, recognizing her as a Beacon applicant, but the two blondes soon realize that they have similar reasons for being here- and that they're in competition for Junior's time and attention. The two start to quibble over access to Junior, who's quickly shut out as the two begin to argue about who has the more pressing/important reason to be. Yang is prodded into mentioning her mother- but Glynda trumps her with the search for her only son, causing gasps all around. Between that and an angry teacher who could spike her Beacon application, Yang backs down, and Glynda turns towards Junior.

Junior is caught sneaking away, and he orders his goons to attack as he darts into the back. Glynda makes to chase after him, knowing he knows something, and Yang gets caught up in the fighting that follows as she chooses to lend a hand. She hardly needs to- Glynda mops the goons with ease, and levitates the Miltia twins into the air when they try to interfere- but then a new contender enters the battle when Neo enters the fray and strikes at Glynda. Glynda recognizes Neo and calls her by name to stop, but Neo's clearly there for a fight. With Neo keeping her occupied, Glynda asks Yang to chase after Junior into the back.

Yang does, and find's Junior tugging a large heavy suitcase towards the exit. It's big and cumbersome, and Yang is easily able to dispatch Junior. Figuring that the suitcase must have Junior's valuables and the clues/intel he has, Yang keys it open- only for it to open with a pop and a hiss and a cloud of cold smoke.

When the smoke clears, inside isn't papers or valuables, but a blonde boy- Jaune. Dazed and clearly confused, Jaune sees Yang- but his first word is "Father?" Yang laughs it off as confusion, and introduces herself before asking for Sleeping Beauty's name. Jaune introduces himself, and asks whether Dad or Mother sent her to collect him. Yang is confused, and a bit concerned, but decides to go with her gut- and her recent team-up with Glynda- and claims she's with his mother.

Jaune doesn't respond well to that- he tenses in fear- but Glynda arrives and interrupts. Glynda disclaims that Yang is with her- just a bystander caught up- and drops the family Arc words about how she said she'd come back for Jaune. Jaune relaxes at the phrase 'An Arc never goes back on their word,' and when Glynda calls him to take him away Jaune follows. Glynda asks for Yang to stay there, and stop anyone who might try to pursue her as she takes Jaune away to safety. Yang agrees, ready to hold out, glad to have done a good deed and gotten on the good side of one of her future teachers…

Until Glynda walks through the door, stumbling away from her battle with Neo. Yang is confused, asks about Jaune, which gets Glynda's attention like a hawk because she never told Yang her son's name. When Glynda realizes what happened, she rages- and Yang realizes she let the kidnapper steal Jaune from right under her nose.

Not kidnapper, Glynda corrects. Thief. A master thief. And she was so close to catching up with him-

Glynda doesn't explain everything to Yang, but levels her position and authority to blackmail/bribe Yang. Miss Xiao Long will get her application to Beacon approved… provided she forget and not tell anything of what happened her tonight. Yang agrees, obviously, but leaves and is found by Ruby in a confused state.

/

The next scene is a few weeks later, with the start of episode one. Ruby is in the dust store- and near her is a young blonde boy. (Yes, it's Jaune.) Ruby doesn't pay him much mind until they both reach for the same weapon magazine. This sparks a conversation in which Jaune asks Ruby if she's a fan of Hunters and Huntresses, Ruby geeks out about weapons, and is pleased she hit it off with a stranger. As she introduces herself and is about to ask his name, Jaune gets a scroll call that says 'Father.' Unintentionally eavesdropping, Ruby hears Father say he's coming to pick Jaune up and to stay put, but keep an eye out for any Huntresses. Jaune awkwardly laughs, and says he's standing to one right now, and the line goes silent before Father orders Jaune to stay where he is. Giving his word that he'll be there soon, he makes Jaune give his own to not leave with any Huntresses no matter what.

Ruby innocently asks if something's the matter and what's the matter with Huntresses, and Jaune confesses that he's been kidnapped before. Jaune laughs if off and says it's just his dad being overprotective, Ruby commiserates, and the two share a laugh over over-protective parents. Ruby gallantly offers to protect him from any evil Huntresses, and though Jaune tries to pass and suggests Ruby leave to avoid a scene, Ruby insists.

Ruby is thus surprised when a few minutes later Yang bursts into the shop- out of breath, glancing around, and making a beeline right to them. Ruby's surprised to see her, but Yang barely pays attention to her- looking Jaune up and down and checking him for anything. Ruby quickly becomes suspicious when Yang hastily introduces herself as being sent by Jaune's father- and knows that this Yang is a fake when she introduces herself to Ruby as a total stranger.

When 'Yang' begins to drag Jaune off- after dropping a meaningful word about how she gave her word that she'd be there for Jaune soon- Ruby attacks. Shouting at Jaune to flee, Ruby calls out 'Yang' as an imposter of her sister and reminds Jaune of what his father told him- to not leave with any Huntress no matter what. Jaune begins to protest, but Ruby's fighting and has an advantage over the fake Yang. Ruby knocks the fake Yang out of the building and into the street- where 'Yang' begins to simmer, and change form.

In her place is the more familiar form of Roman Torchwick- picking himself up and dusting off his coat. Ruby is confused, Jaune is able to get a word in, and introduces Roman as his father. Jaune is able to de-escalate the fight- explaining to Roman that Ruby wasn't out to kidnap him- and Roman impatiently wants to get Ruby out of there before 'she' comes. 'She' makes her presence known with a telekinetic barrage as Glynda attacks Roman with extreme prejudice. Roman fights back, firing some shots and flares, and tells Jaune to run and remember what he told him about Huntresses. Roman also shouts off at Ruby that, if she was serious about playing hero, to protect Jaune from any other Huntress.

Jaune and Ruby run away from the battle, Ruby taking her duty seriously even as she's surprised by Jaune's admission that Roman is his father and the attacker is his mother. Ruby's confused about who's good and who's bad- all the more so when Jaune says that they've both stolen him away more than once. These kind of custody battles are more common than he'd like to admit.

Out of breath, Jaune stops a few blocks away from the battle. Out of an alleyway comes a mysterious and masked Huntress with a fire theme. Cinder introduces herself as an ally of Jaune's father, and offers to take him (or them, when Ruby intervenes) to him. Ruby's sold, but Jaune remembers Roman's warning and invokes his word to his father about not going with any Huntress. Cinder attacks rather than let him get away, Ruby protects rather than be driven off, and is able to hold out until Glynda comes and drives Cinder away. Roman is flying the Bullhead, and cajoles Cinder into falling back (by insulting Glynda to increase her anger and intensity of attacks), even if it means leaving Jaune behind.

With Roman and Cinder away, Glynda turns to Jaune- and there's tense, awkward silence between the two. Glynda lessens a fraction as she introduces herself to Jaune- and we hear that it's been nearly four years since they last saw eachother. Jaune is silent, and Glynda sighs, and resolves that they can talk it out later as she moves to take possession of him.

She's stopped by Ruby- who's confused, clearly out of her depth, but committed to protecting Jaune from evil Huntresses until things make sense and she knows what's going on. Glynda gives a short, one-sided version- she's Jaune's mother, Roman's the bad guy and kidnapping daddy- but Ruby doesn't know if she can trust her, and Jaune's reactions (warmth for father, silence for Glynda) suggest a different story. Plus, Cinder's attack on Jaune. Ruby won't let down her guard until police- or preferably a Huntsman- show up.

It's the police, who arrive with sirens blaring and searchlights illuminating them all. The police call on all of them to drop their weapons and surrender. They're received word of a kidnapping in progress… and Glynda matches the description of the perpetrator. Glynda is frustrated- knowing this is a final gift for Roman, and that her protests that Jaune is her son won't move the police- and the police take control of the situation.

Scene transitions still with Ruby at the police station. Ruby is with Jaune, who's been silent since police custody but is clearly more comfortable with Ruby than any authority figure there, including Glynda. Ozpin arrives, but he's too busy with Glynda (who's too busy with Jaune) to take an interest in Ruby.

Yang arrives to pickup Ruby right as Glynda prepares to leave with Jaune, and all four cross paths with eachother. Jaune and Yang recognize eachother and exchange hellos- again, with Jaune being warmer to the girls than his mother. Yang and Ruby recognize eachother, with Ruby challenging Yang to prove she's not Roman, and Glynda observes as the two with a speculative look. Ultimately Glynda leaves, dragging Jaune away and to Beacon as he looks back at Ruby and Yang.

/

A pre-Beacon arc establishes Glynda's abilities as a mother. She's strict, concerned for Jaune, and worried that Roman will try to steal him away- and as a consequence, practically has Jaune under house arrest or permanent escort. The only people Glynda trusts enough to watch over Jaune are the other Beacon faculty. Anyone else could be Roman in disguise.

Glynda tries to reconnect with Jaune, she clearly wants to, but it's a struggle. It's been four years since they last saw eachother, and nearly all of that time was with Roman- a topic that shuts down any discussion as Glynda's vocal distaste clashes with Jaune's clear affection. Every time Glynda badmouths Roman, or asks about Neo, or denies Jaune's tentative requests for freedom and autonomy that would expose him to being snatched by Roman and Neo, Jaune shuts down and won't talk for the rest of a day. There are a number of silent suppers in which the only words Glynda can get out of Jaune are polite 'please' and 'thank you's.

After a number of well-intentioned but ham-fisted efforts, Glynda is fed up- not at Jaune, but at Roman for turning him against her. She says as much, prompting Jaune to defend Roman. At least Dad never locked him away for a week. It's an accusation that stings, and Glynda goes to drink her frustration away with friends. She laments how far she and Jaune have drifted- that they used to be close, that he used to call her 'Mom' rather than the more formal 'Mother.' Her fellow faculty have sympathy for her, but also for Jaune's position, and they advise her to give her time and space. Glynda is afraid of that- time and space gives Roman a chance to steal him away- but the professors point out that Jaune is nearly an adult, not a child. He needs autonomy, and he needs friends. And not just themselves, who Glynda trusts- people his own age. Glynda becomes contemplative.

The next morning Jaune wakes up to an empty apartment rather than being woken up by Glynda, and Ruby and Yang get a summons to Signal by Uncle Qrow. Glynda is responsible, and proposes an opportunity for Ruby to come to Beacon early. For both of them to come early, actually- it's still summer break, but Glynda offers them a chance to get into a summer school/training program that will let them begin early. The catch, of course, is that they have to watch over Jaune. As close sisters they have a bond that Roman can't fool, and Glynda needs people who can watch over Jaune on her behalf. Plus, they both know of Roman's trickery, and they both demonstrated they'd try to protect Jaune. If they're willing to help, she'll let them both in and get a head start- and provide a bit of a stipend as well, to cover costs of flying to and from Beacon over the summer.

It's an easy sell. Ruby gets her dream opportunity early, Yang is happy to help Ruby, and they're both more than willing to help Jaune. There's a bit of comedy in how it's framed. Qrow jokes that Glynda is setting up a play-date, and Ruby/Yang simultaneously and comedically realize they're being asked to be Jaune's friend/babysitter, but they agree. When they ask when they start, Glynda responds- today.

Glynda takes Ruby and Yang to Beacon, and (re)introduces them to Jaune who's been locked in his room- and, unknown to her, was just talking to Neo before she returned, with words to the effect that he understands he'll be safer here in Beacon. Glynda lays out new ground rules- Jaune is allowed around Beacon with the girls, and even into Vale with both of them, or anyone she trusts. It's a restriction, but a significantly loosened one- and Glynda shoos Jaune out, to use the afternoon to show the girls around Beacon. Jaune happily does, and leaves- and when the door closes, Glynda's smile fades as she sees a half-hidden tub of neopolitan icrecream that she knows she didn't buy for him.

That night has the first good dinner between Jaune and Glynda. Talking about Ruby and Yang gives Jaune and Glynda a safe topic of conversation that doesn't lead to Roman, and both are pleasantly surprised when they finish dinner without incident. Glynda finishes it with a confession, and a partial apology for how she's locked Jaune away to date. Glynda laments being separated from him for so long, and admits (for the first time to Jaune directly) that she's afraid of losing him again. Glynda admits she's pushing beyond her comfort zone and taking a risk in trusting him to Ruby and Yang- and, with a hint of weakness, asks for Jaune to give her a chance.

Jaune hugs her, thanks her, and for the first time calls her Mom in the process. Jaune retreats to his room- but not before promising her that he won't run away. Glynda has bad history with the promises of Arcs- the only reference to Roman all night- but watches him go and smiles with maternal satisfaction.

The summer school arc focuses mostly on Jaune and Glynda and their repairing relationship. Jaune prefers to spend time with Ruby and Yang rather than in his room, even sitting in classes- though he watches from the sidelines during combat practice, where he has no permission or waivers to partake. Dinner together is the common thing with Glynda and Jaune, and the way to guage the relationship. There are still little slips here and there- a mention of Roman ending the night- but both parties try to avoid it and do better the next night.

Ruby and Yang take Jaune into Vale to see Signal one weekend- and while Glynda is concerned, she forces herself not to mother-hen, and she and Jaune have a good night talking about how he was shown around Signal. Jaune brings up the topic that he never went to one, and Glynda carelessly asks how he was trained instead- but rather than dinner falling apart over the mention of Roman and Neo, for the first time they change topics and continue dinner. Glynda doesn't get to learn more about Jaune's missing years, but prefers the improved tenor more.

A 'climax' occurs before the end of summer, when Glynda takes Jaune (and possibly Yang and Ruby) to the beach. Beach episode comedy is expected- including Glynda getting hit on, and Jaune being uncomfortable and breaking it up by publicly calling her 'Mom'- but a key moment occurs when Glynda spots Neo watching them. Glynda pursues, fails, and realizes she (and Yang/Ruby) have lost sight of Jaune- and is afraid this was the opportunity that Roman was waiting for. To create a distraction and steal Jaune away.

Instead Jaune is still there- and while it's obvious he's hiding something and that Roman approached him, he stayed. Jaune repeats his promise about not leaving, and Glynda is relieved beyond reason. It's the moment of truth, and Jaune stayed with his mother. That night, after a dinner out and while returning to Beacon, Glynda offers Jaune anything he wants, anything she can.

Jaune, very hesitatingly, wants to become a Huntsman. Like his family.

Like her and not Roman, in other words. Glynda is relieved and silently rejoices, and makes the necessary arrangements to enroll Jaune in Beacon. Unlike the Ruby admission, which she could justify on official grounds and Ruby skipping grades, Jaune's enrollment is an entirely personal thing- but Glynda calls in personal favors and debts she's owed to make it fly. Glynda is riding on a maternal high when she shares the good news with Jaune- even as she has to adopt a stern (but more clearly loving) teacher persona when she denies that she'll give Jaune any unfair advantage.

No clues, hints, or early peaks on the tests.

Still, Jaune is happy, and in his excitement hugs her and tells his mother he loves her. Glynda hugs back and tells him the same, and there's no reservation between them. Glynda feels she's finally regained Jaune.

/

Beacon initiation occurs, with Jaune, Yang, and Ruby watching the arrival of their fellow classmates. Ruby and Yang, reminded by Glynda, wonder if Roman is amongst the crowd- or Jaune's sister. Which leads to Jaune sharing that he has more than one, even if he doesn't know who they are, and otherwise a rare piece of sharing from Jaune's past.

The three gets separated in the crowd. Ruby gets distracted by weapons, makes to catch up with Yang and Jaune like she's supposed to, and that's what leads to running into Weiss and meeting Blake. Jaune sticks around with them all night- the first night he's not sleeping in his room with Glynda since arriving at Beacon- and canon things happen.

Except for an unknown person watching Jaune from afar, and alerting her Father of who she sees.

The next morning Glynda wakes to a sleepy-headed fright of Jaune missing for his room, before remembering why. Before seeing a message from Roman on her scroll, which wakes her again. Roman tells Glynda in no uncertain terms to take Jaune out of Beacon. No reason why, no explanation, just 'don't.' Unhappy that Roman is spying, but thinking he's just jealous that she has Jaune, Glynda has full faith in Jaune and ignores the warning.

Glynda searches Jaune out, and she enters the scene after he and Pyrrha have started talking. Jaune didn't try and flirt with Weiss- was just trying to find his locker- which is how he and Weiss got talking (her upset as his trying to intrude in her space while she was by the locker) and which led to Pyrrha. Pyrrha seems interested ala canon- Jaune isn't awed by who she is, and only vaguely remembers his father making a killing off of betting on her matches- but is quickly shooed off by Glynda when Glynda comes to check on Jaune.

Jaune is nervous, and Glynda makes to reassure him. Jaune points out that Glynda hasn't trained him, but Glynda shushes him. She can't play favorites any more than she has, can't give him an easy-in on the Initiation, and so personal training will have to be after he's a student. Glynda has full faith and hope in him, and promises him that he'll be okay. Jaune takes comfort in her assurance, and prepares for initiation.

While Glynda won't rig initiation for him, she has almost everything else planned out, angling for the canon JNPR team-up as a matter of design with the Launchpad scenario. Her son deserves the best, hence angling for Pyrrha to be the nearest person to his launch site. Nora and Ren are close friends, and thus won't be dopple-gangered by Roman. Even Team RWBY is mostly by design. Weiss, as a prominent public figure, is too famous to impersonate. Ruby and Yang are safe. The fourth member is unknown, and the biggest factor of concern, but Glynda has hope.

As the students line up Ozpin notes her designs, and calls her out for lacking impartiality. Glynda is biased, bending rules in some ways, but makes clear she refuses to play favorite in others. Ozpin has concerns about Jaune's training history, or lack thereof, but Glynda waves it aside. For once she has something to be thankful to Roman for, since Roman home-schooled Neo after The Incident. (A vague, guilty past that comes up whenever Glynda sees Neo, and something that Jaune and Glynda dance around constantly.) Still, Glynda is certain that Jaune will do just fine.

Jaune is fighting fright as he approaches the springboards, and shoots her a nervous look, but Glynda smiles for him and mouths her previous promise. He'll be fine. Jaune repeats it, calms himself, and is thrown in the air.

He won't be fine.

The surprise reveal of initiation is that Jaune isn't trained by Roman in any way- which Glynda realizes only after Jaune fails to make any sort of landing strategy and crashes unprotected into a forest full of Grimm and without any aura. The trees break Jaune's fall, and much of his body, as he barely survives and screams in pain.

Initiation becomes a crisis as Glynda launches herself into the forest, intent on reaching Jaune before any nearby Grimm can. The closest students- JNPR and RWBY- do as well, with canon pairings forming up in-route. Glynda arrives too late to save Jaune herself, but being held by Pyrrha.

Jaune is delirious with pain, and reacts poorly when Glynda makes herself know. Jaune is repeating what she last told him- that he'd be alright- but when he sees her he calls her a liar. He isn't alright. She lied- just like she did with Neo.

The reference to Neo is the stinger before Jaune passes out, and Glynda has to deal with the confusion of everyone else. When Pyrrha reveals that she had to unlock Jaune's aura herself in order to save him, everyone is surprised- and everyone thinks worse of Glynda as a result of it. Weiss sums up everyone's feelings when she realizes, incredulous, that Glynda threw her own son to the beowolves without even preparing him on how to survive.

Initiation pretty much ends there as Glynda arranges a medevac for Jaune and takes the teams along. Despite not completing the mission, they've met the intent- they found partners, formed teams, and found grimm- and most of them are tied to Jaune. Pyrrha, his new partner, won't leave him. Ruby and Yang are expected to come along, bringing their partners with them. Ren and Nora get caught up as well. Everyone returns to Beacon, and everyone is in the emergency waiting room, and everyone blames Glynda and is more inclined to protect Jaune from her than help her with Jaune.

When Jaune wakes up in the medbay he flinches at the sight of Glynda, and neither can or will talk to the other. Glynda tries to apologize- tries to say she didn't know- but she gets lambasted by everyone else who is incredulous that a mother wouldn't know that of her own son. Even the defense that she doesn't know his last several years doesn't fly- in part because Glynda can remember how many times she shut down the topic, and points Jaune might have told her it, because of her personal distaste of hearing about Roman. Burdened with guilt, Glynda doesn't use family visitation rules to stay with Jaune, and leaves him with everyone else while she goes to answer to Ozpin.

Ozpin isn't hostile, but he's not sympathetic. Glynda called in favors, leveraged years of work, and put her own reputation on the line to convince him to let in Jaune. Ozpin might not say he thinks it's Glynda's fault, but he makes it clear that cleaning up for it is Glynda's responsibility- even if she doesn't know how.

The final blow, when Glynda's been put through the wringer at every level, is when Roman himself calls her. Roman's heard- an admission that he has spies in Beacon- and he's angry. He'd left Jaune in Beacon because he thought he'd be safe there- but apparently not. If Glynda is going to break another one of his children, he'll have to take Jaune back. With that threat, the Initiation Arc ends.

The rest of the arcs summarize more easily on broader terms based on overall plot arcs.

The rest of season one is basically about Glynda trying to apologize and remake lost ground with Jaune, even as she's both (a) feeling guilty as fuck, and (b) committed to fairly applying the rules and not showing nepotism to Jaune, a reactionary response to how bending them got him in and hurt in the first place. Jaune is hurt, and feels betrayed, and spends most of the season trying or wanting to escape Beacon and be recovered by Roman.

Teams JNPR and RWBY are obstacles to both of them. For Glynda, the Teams prevent any Mother-Son alone time to make amends, intent on protecting Jaune from her as much as from Roman. Their initial impressions from Initiation are compounded by the events of the Jaundice arc. For Jaune, though, the presence of his friends prevents him from escaping on his own, and interferes with brief opportunities and visits by Neo, who's waiting some signal or event before Roman will take him.

The Jaundice arc starts earlier, even as Jaune is on crutches and still has a cast as classes start. Jaune's story, and his weakness, is known by everyone from the start. That one of his parents (though not knowing who) is a teacher, that he got in by special favor rather than earning it, and that he's the weakest and most untrained of all of them. Jaune is subject to widescale ridicule, and even some envy as people believe he's constantly getting special favors from the teachers. There's a widespread sentiment that Jaune took a slot that should have gone to anyone else.

Jaune is bad, even wore early on as he struggles to recover, but every thing he succeeds at- including academics- is attributed to special favors from the teachers. Even academic subjects, which he's passable at, are accompanied by whispers of cheating or requests by other students for him to share the tests in advance. It also washes against the rest of the teams- where their own successes and abilities are dismissed as favoritism by proxy. IE, Weiss puts in hours of studying, but when she makes top marks people whisper that Jaune shared the tests.

The suspicion is widespread, and not just restricted to Cardin. Even the fact the teams are the teams is (rightly) suspected to be outside influence. It's overstated- Blake, for one, considers herself the disproof- but the environment creates a bonding point across the teams for Jaune and eachother. As far as they know, they came together honestly and formed their partnerships on their own, and they know they're not getting special treatment in class.

Cardin isn't exceptional in the favoritism suspicion- but where Cardin stands out is in Glynda's 'refuse to make special exceptions for Jaune' policy, which leads to her standing by and only barely limiting abuse. Partly, this is because of integrity- what she said to Jaune before Initiation. Glynda pulled strings to get Jaune in and set him up with a good team that could protect him from Roman, but would leave actually succeeding up to him.

The other part is concern. Glynda knows the whispers about Jaune getting special favors, and doesn't want to exasperate them. The student body doesn't know she's the parent in question, and Glynda believes that if she showed Jaune favoritism- even by clarifying their relationship- that she'd make the situation worse. For herself, as a teacher and arbiter, but also for Jaune. She wants to help Jaune, but only as much as she can as a teacher- even as it means watching Cardin beat down Jaune in her own class. She can limit it to the rules, and correct Cardin on his attitude when he gloats about beating the teacher's pet, but she has no grounds to stop it and can only try to not show her reaction.

Which, of course, further upsets the friends, and further distances her from Jaune, which makes reconciliation harder. Even her tentative efforts to visit Jaune in the infirmary afterwards are buffered and rebuffed by friends that are cool to her. Glynda never presses through, and Jaune never knows she tries as the friends screen her from him.

Which makes everything else worse, to the point that Jaune wants out- confessing to Pyrrha on the rooftop that he wants his dad. Jaune tears up in frustration at how everything isn't like he'd dared hope when Glynda reclaimed him. It's not just that he doesn't belong here- Jaune feels rejected by Glynda as well. Not only that she lied about how things would be (at Initiation, here and now), but that because he failed she (Glynda) wants nothing more to do with him. Doesn't even care when he's hurt- how she didn't say anything to him in the hospital, and how only his friends visit him in the infirmary after combat classes.

Pyrrha comforts, and leaves to give him some space- the first time Jaune has been left truly alone since initiation. Jaune takes the opportunity to take out his scroll and call Roman directly- and Roman answers by the second ring. Jaune begs to be taken away. Roman doesn't want to yet, claiming it's too early and too dangerous, but reconsiders at Jaune's plea and desperation to get away from a mother who's ashamed of him. Roman makes reference to Forever Falls, the next time Jaune will be away from the security of Beacon, and gives an Arc word that family will be there for him.

As far as Cardin overhearing goes, it's not blackmail-worthy- just some additional taunts in combat class at Cardin mocks Jaune for crying to his daddy, disappointing mommy, and wanting to give up. Glynda sets up a subsequent match of Cardin versus Pyrrha, but is too alarmed and off-balance to appreciate Pyrrha's approach. The taunts also alarm Ruby and Yang- the only two who really know about Roman and that he's a wanted criminal. Not wanting Jaune to fall into the hands of evil, and also having some insight into both Glynda and Jaune, the two want to patch things up.

If you haven't gotten it yet, the crux of the issue is that Glynda and Jaune are unable to talk with eachother. Glynda is too guilty and afraid of hurting Jaune even incidentally to approach him again. Jaune takes Glynda's distance for indifference, and her discomfort when she looks at him for disappointment for not being good enough. Ruby and Yang figure this out- but realize that the friends themselves have been an obstacle to reconciliation by blocking Glynda's tentative efforts to reach out and talk to Jaune alone.

Ruby and Yang realize this right as the Forever Falls trip arrives. The crisis/climax/resolution centers over Cardin's use of the rapier wasps. Cardin disdains Jaune for being weak and favoritism, but he really dislikes Pyrrha for showing him up and the beat-down in combat class. Cardin gets the rapier wasps to use against both of them. Cardin and his team, instead of trying to make Jaune do it for them, set up their own ambush of Team JNPR. One of the points they realize is that the wasps are also attracted to the sab- so a sap grenade will get all the wasps on one target. As CRDL sets up its ambush, Cardin steals some of JNPR's stockpiled sap for good measure, aims for Jaune's shield, and lets it fly.

Glynda gets involved when rapier wasps fly and shouts emerge. Ruby, Yang, and Team RWBY as a whole had been confronting her to try and force her to talk with Jaune when the shouts begin. Glynda's initial hesitance- favoritism for her child- gets a boot in the but when she's told to just take care of her favorite student instead then. Glynda rushes, and finds the rapier wasps swarming JNPR, and with a wave of her wand is able to semblance them away and save Jaune from a mass. Glynda's semblance is tied up in tying up all the wasps, but the day is saved and Jaune is looking up at her in surprise and awe.

Glynda is here, Glynda is mad, and Cardin knows he's in trouble- but underestimates how much. Glynda makes up for lost time, and then some, as she tears Cardin's excuses apart. Even Cardin's appeal to her even-handedness- that CRDL will give JNPR sap to make up for what they stole- falls short. Cardin doesn't see what the big deal is- it's just a prank- except Glynda says it's not. It's assault, or worse- because Jaune is seriously allergic to rapier wasps, and has been ever since he was eight years old, just like his mother.

It's the sort of personal detail that makes Cardin realize that Glynda is Jaune's mother- and for the first time, Glynda public acknowledges that in front of the students. Cardin is afraid, but also furious- convinced that he's going to be screwed over and out of Beacon out of personal vengeance. Even as the situation stabilizes and Glynda turns to check on Jaune, Cardin clenches his fists in fury- around the jar of sap he'd been offering as a bribe to get out of trouble- and spitefully throws it at them.

Jaune sees it. Jaune tries to warn her (calling her Mother in the process), and Glynda- despite having every chance to dodge or deflect- takes the hit for Jaune instead.

Everyone's shocked silent as glass cracks, sap stains, and just a trickle of blood marks where Cardin's object hit. Glynda says nothing, silent fury building, even as one rapier wasp- freed from her semblance and attracted by the sap- lazily flies over towards her. The intent is clear. It's not what Cardin tried to do to Jaune that will get him thrown out. It's what he did to a teacher. As soon as the Rapier wasp stings- as soon as it's not just sap, but an attack it's over.

It doesn't, because before it can Jaune knocks it out of the air. With a glare for Cardin, and a muttered 'don't hurt my mother,' Jaune silently cleans up the mess on Glynda. The two are silent and not looking at each other, and realizing what's needed Yang and RWBY get everyone out. Frog-marching CRDL and asking JNPR, they leave Glynda and Jaune alone.

Glynda and Jaune struggle, but make amends and at least some initial forgiveness. For Glynda, accepting the blow and being stung would have been a sort of karmic punishment for letting Jaune be hurt in Initiation. But Jaune doesn't want punishment- he doesn't want Glynda to hurt- and he believes her when she says she didn't know he wasn't ready. That she's sorry.

There's forgiveness for Initiation… but not for the rest. Not yet. Now that they're able to speak, Glynda is able explain why she's kept her distance- that she was trying to help with favoritism- but Jaune isn't so accepting of that. Roman- Dad- would have put family first, rules be damned. She acted like she didn't care. Like he wasn't family- or that family meant nothing to her. This isn't true- Glynda cares quite a bit- but she apologizes anyway. With Jaune gone for so long, she's out of practice of being a mother. And she will be if he leaves again.

Glynda asks for another chance to make things right. For Jaune to not run away to Roman. Despite some hesitance- despite the shadow that Roman will simply take him back like he promised when the time comes- Jaune tentatively agrees.

In the shadows of the woods, Neo and Roman watche from afar. She glares hard at Glynda, but Roman puts a hand on her shoulder. That, for now at least, Jaune will be safer at Beacon than with them. Neo disagrees- not trusting Glynda, and referencing Jaune's injuries- and Roman tells her to be patient until the time is right. After all, he still has his sister with him, even if he doesn't know it.

Back with mother and son, the two reconcile, and if Glynda looks after Jaune a bit closer than strictly necessary as a teacher when the rapier wasp stings are inspected, no one objects. Jaune is put in the infirmary overnight as the allergic reaction is monitored, and Glynda's presence is tolerated by the team. The next day, when he's released, for the first time Jaune passes on dinner with his friends- and asks to have dinner with Glynda instead.

The last arc of Season 1 is Glynda and Jaune returning to better terms. There's still difficulty between them- Glynda struggling to balance teacher impartiality with showing affection- and it hamstrings them even as it's clear Glynda is trying to make a balance between loving as a mother and discipline as a teacher.

This 'affection vs. discipline' theme comes up with various characters and friends, most notably Blake and Weiss. Thanks to her past, she knows she's the worst rule breaker of all of them, Blake has a certain sympathy and better-than-justified opinion of Roman, a good father with a bad reputation. Weiss, a discipline freak, has her own bit of too much strictness- but also how strictness can be an expression of love. The two quibble- with Weiss sympathizing more with Glynda's efforts and Blake empathizing more with the Roman position of feelings before rules- as the story goes on.

On the Beta Plot, however, is the role of Roman's daughters. Opening up to his friends about his family, Jaune explains Roman as bad husband but loving father. Roman has seven daughters, but the only one Jaune knows is Neo- a special exception because of The Incident that Jaune doesn't go into, but compares to Initiation. A serial philanderer, Roman has had families across the kingdoms- banking on the Arc name and reputation in the process as with Glynda- but he's kept them all separate from eachother. As much to protect them from his foes as to keep his philanderings secret, he supports them from a distance, but stays in contact with all of them. Roman's daughters are all walks of life… but are also his most trusted agents.

One of these daughters is in Beacon. While Jaune and Friends pal around, Ozpin/Qrow/Glynda try to figure out who. After leaking some information (via Glynda and Jaune's dinners) to test, they eventually conclude that the Mole is in Jaune's group of friends. After narrowing out the less likely ones with confirmed parents, the top two suspects are auburn-haired Nora… and Blake.

(*At this point, an omake would be included in which all of the girls are girls end up being sisters- with Roman having a thing for disguising as husbands and cuckolding their wives. Raven is looking for her real baby-daddy, Taiyang never knew, and Papa Schnee is in denial (or, alternatively, Winter is the Roman daughter).)

Blake is Glynda's top suspect. On top of her vague past and unknown parents, Blake's public sympathy with Roman's fathering style (sentiment over rules) makes her stand out as the likely Roman supporter. She's also dodgy and uncomfortable around Glynda- a perfect suspect!

Glynda's reaction is… to actually be soft on Blake. Or softer than normal. Even as it's apparent that Glynda feels anger and betrayal towards Roman for his lies and philandering, the question of what she feels towards his daughters has been unclear. It's actually Pyrrha, in the reoccurring moments she has alone with Glynda when Glynda and Jaune prepare to spend time together, who asks Glynda about her views. Glynda has a soft-spot for Roman's daughters, no animosity at all, and even some pity that they didn't get a normal father and a normal family. There's also something else- something she doesn't explain- when Neo's name slips her lips. It's clear the Incident with Neo is still on her mind, so many years later.

Over the course of the act, Glynda moderates her approach towards Jaune- seeking and taking advice from Blake on being more open. She still enforces discipline- still doesn't let Jaune get away with things he shouldn't- but her feelings are more open and known, especially when she starts doing private tutoring of a sort with after-classes instruction. She and Pyrrha clash a bit over combat training, but Glynda is finding ways to show positive attention as both a teacher and a mother. Glynda walks a narrow line, but manages to balance it.

The climax, the Blake-White-Fang reveal- comes in a similar context. Glynda accompanies/takes the Teams to the docks to meet the incoming students, using it as an excuse for a mother-daughter outing with Jaune, as tends to happen now. When Sun appears, Glynda captures him with ease and deals with the authorities- the 'discipline' theme- even as she averts any draconian punishment and takes responsibility for him as a student.

While Glynda is away taking care of the rule-breaking faunus, the Blake-Weiss fight starts- with Jaune drawn in. The issue is less race-charged, but more about criminality versus justice andorder, with Jaune's father raised as the human example of trash and scoundrels. Jaune gets defensive, even as Blake gets annoyed, when Weiss equivocates Roman's burglaries with White Fang terrorism.

The climax of the argument occurs when Jaune heatedly denies that Roman ever conducted terrorism when working with the White Fang- inadvertently admitting that Roman has been working with the White Fang, and that Jaune was a witness. Everyone is surprised, and Weiss turns on him in anger over ties to the White Fang, which prompts Blake to defend Jaune and reveal her own secret.

With two bombshells dropped, and realizing that Glynda is only minutes away and would almost certainly bring them in to the police for interrogation, both Jaune and Blake flee. Pyrrha helps ensure their escape, blocking the path of an initial pursuit instead of inflaming the situation. They're both surprised at the revelation, and both agree to stick together and talk things out. Blake in particular wants to know more- to know what Roman's involvement is- and since Jaune can't answer… why not ask the source?

It's Roman, who appears with a flourish and an image change from one of the café's patrons. Beside him is Neo, more conventionally disguised in a maid outfit. (Since, you know, fanservice. And Blake taking them to a maid café. Cause reasons.). A little bird told him Jaune ran away from his friends and mother while in town, and Roman is dropping by to check on him.

Blake gets to be witness to Jaune and Roman interacting. Warm, physical, and affectionate, in a way that Glynda isn't. Roman pokes and prods and teases and affectionately rubs Jaune's head, while even Neo is smiling and giving some mean-spirited loving. Roman sits with them, and even deigns to answer some of Blake's questions.

Roman denies knowing what the White Fang want with the dust. Roman claims to need the money to support his family. Roman's playing dumb, in other words- and Blake grows suspicious, even as Roman offers a tip-off about the docks. On the other hand, Roman actually answers what the mysterious Incident between Glynda and Neo was- it was a training incident in which Glynda rendered Neo mute. Roman blames Glynda entirely, and makes clear he considers Jaune's incident in initiation part of a pattern. The kicker, though, is that Roman leaves without trying to take Jaune, or even offering him a safehouse. For all the hostility between Roman and Glynda, he knows something that keeps him from taking Jaune now- which means he knows something more than he's letting on.

Jaune doesn't believe- doesn't want to believe Roman is really bad any more than Blake wants to believe the White Fang are conspiring. Throughout the arc, Jaune has had an overly positive opinion of Roman despite his many failings as a husband, and insists that Roman doesn't do really bad things. Together they resolve to follow Roman and the lead about the docks… and wonder what they'll do with what they find. Their friends, and Glynda, are still looking for them.

Blake and Jaune investigate, and see Roman and the White Fang, and see Roman's less-than-stellar racism- something Jaune had never mentioned (or known). More to the point, they hear mention of Cinder- which calls to mind Jaune's encounter with her with Ruby, and proof that Roman is in deep.

Blake intervenes, fight starts, and situation gets out of control when Jaune follows and Roman realizes who's attacking and determines that he has to take Jaune into custody now. Things really get bad when Glynda (and Sun) show up as well, and Neo comes out to fight her, and big battle is big. The fight ends, or Roman gets away, when Roman tries shooting a stunned Blake- and Glynda get in the way of the shot. Jaune putting a shield between her and Roman, stopping a barrage, is a surprise- but more surprising is Neo's disbelief at Glynda. Glynda, who can understand Neo like Jaune and Roman, gets out that she never wanted any of Roman's daughters hurt. Neo is angry, and leaves the battle with Roman.

Aftermath comes with the 'reveal' that Blake is… not Roman's daughter. Or so she claims and maintains. Blake confesses to her past with the White Fang as the counter-explanation. When Glynda is torn about what to do- intending to take her to the police and possibly evict her from Beacon- Jaune does the same. If Glynda is to be fair, she'll have to do the same to Jaune and Blake.

Instead, Glynda does to them what she did with Sun earlier- avoids the draconian punishment and takes custody of them as students. And grounds Jaune for a week, since he's her son and she can get away with that. Overall it's a moment of relief, and a breakthrough of Glynda letting affection influence discipline rather than letting discipline dominate, and even after he knows he's grounded Jaune calls Glynda 'Mom' for the first time since pre-Initiation.

/

Season 2

Season 2 has a couple plots juggling in parallel. Rather than step-by-step, plot by plot is here.

Glynda does ground Jaune for a time, but her efforts to interrogate him about the past few years with Roman- to learn what Roman is up to- go nowhere as Jaune continues to cover for him and defends Roman instead. Glynda tries to convince Jaune that Roman is bad, but her attempts to pressure fail as it becomes clear that she won't get anything out of Jaune without measures she's not willing to resort to. When the grounding in, Glynda lets him go.

Despite her worries, though, and despite the heated words- Jaune parts with her still calling her 'Mom.' He still cares for her. He just also cares for Roman.

What was the 'Blake's obsession' subplot in canon becomes 'Jaune's concern over Roman.' Jaune and Blake share an interest in figuring out what Roman and the White Fang are caught up in. Unlike Blake, who is convinced that the White Fang are up to no good, Jaune is in denial and wants to get Roman out of trouble. As the investigation continues, however, Jaune is forced to accept that his rose-tinted view of Roman is false. Roman might be a good father, and a bad husband, but he's an evil person- or at least on the side of evil.

Jaune, rather than Sun, joins Blake in investigating the White Fang rally where Roman is most likely to be. There Jaune gets Roman aside and tries to convince him to stop- but even if Roman won't harm Jaune, he won't stop either. Roman expresses concern, even fear, at what will happen if Jaune doesn't stay up in Beacon- but he's also callous and disregards the consequences to anyone but his family in Vale itself. When Jaune accepts this- when Jaune realizes that the White Fang recruits being rallied are nothing more than disposable tools to Roman for whatever evil he wants Jaune out of the way for- Jaune accepts that Glynda was right all along.

Roman may be a loving father, but he's a bad man. Evil, even.

It's a break of the closeness they had, and a charge that hurts Roman deeply- even as he resolves that Jaune can't hate him all he wants, so long as he's alive to do so. Roman tries to make Jaune a prisoner, Blake breaks him out, it's the start of the Paladin chase. Two-team-fight is fun, and while Jaune plays a respectable if minor role, Pyrrha gets points for dismantling the machine magnetically and saving Jaune. She's as surprised as anyone to see Roman in there, and to see Roman get away via Neo.

The investigation arc ends with Jaune and Glynda reuniting after the battle, where Roman kept trying to secure Jaune and run away with him. Despite knowing he did wrong- that he broke rules- Glynda isn't bringing down the hammer. Instead she embraces Jaune, glad he's safe, and Jaune embraces back. Jaune apologizes for doubting her, and concedes that she was right about Roman all along.

For the first time in the story, Jaune is closer to Glynda than Roman. Somehow, it doesn't make her happy. Jaune's sorrow is too clear- he knows Roman needs to be stopped, but still loves him.

/

The second sub-arc is the pre-Dance arc, and Jaune's love interest. Which is… Pyrrha?

Even if it's not been heavy in the summary, Jaune has been close to Pyrrha across the story. Despite a modestly weaker start affecting Pyrrha's initial interest, they've still been friends and she is still a caring and supportive person. She comforted him when he broke down on the roof top, she helped protect him from the rapier wasps, she even helped him and Blake get away in the city. Pyrrha was concerned but also supported the investigation, and played a big part in the battle and saving Jaune. She was also one of the first friends to forgive and accept Glynda, helping Jaune reconcile- and she has Glynda's full approval and support.

Is it any wonder Jaune starts to fall in love?

Despite Jaune's increased interest, Pyrrha's interest is decreased from canon- even uneasy at his interest. But between better (Roman-inspired) flirts, sincere affection, and soft moments of gratitude, Pyrrha's resistance begins to fall.

When Roman hears this from his secret daughter, he can't believe it. But when she goes on about what happened later- that sexy new exchange student Cinder Fall took an interest and asked him to take her to the ball- Roman nearly freaks. Cinder is targeting Jaune in hopes of controlling him, in order to control Roman. Roman tells his daughter to prevent that by any means necessary.

The next day, Nora pushes Pyrrha to accept Jaune's request- and the two have a period in which Jaune tries to be the perfect would-be boyfriend so that together becomes together-together.

To simply shenanigans, the twist is that Roman's secret daughter isn't Nora. Nora's a red-herring, even as her auburn hair, smile, and occasionally sinister overtones and tendency to over-dramatic outbrusts are compared to Roman. The various secret conversations are all compatible with Nora, and Nora coincidentally always shadows Roman's intent.

Roman's secret daughter is Pyrrha- who has been dismissed as a risk by Glynda because she's too famous to doppleganger, but who grew up an orphan of sorts and was put away in training schools all her life. Pyrrha never knew her mother, and only had infrequent contact with Roman (who was all the more important because of the gaps), and while she knows the truth she increasingly wishes she was just as ignorant of it as Jaune is. Pyrrha is fond of Jaune, and has found a substitute maternal figure in Glynda without Glynda realizing it, and is trapped by the desires for family (on multiple levels).

Roman realizes this, and gets worried out as Pyrrha's resolve wavers, and ends up appearing at the ball himself as a doppleganger. With the threat of incest in the air, Roman tries to sink the ship- pushing his children closer together in the process- and ultimately has to resort to appealing to Glynda for help. Considering that Glynda has been the biggest supporter for Arkos, convincing her means telling the truth of his daughter.

Roman is sincere- enough that Glynda believes him- but the question is what she'll do with that knowledge. Roman swears Pyrrha has never done anything illegal for him. Roman is desperate, and hangs the Incident with Neo over Glynda's head. It's unnecessary, and unwanted, as Glynda agrees to not turn Pyrrha over as a spy. The two make way to stop Jaune and Pyrrha.

They're too late… and unnecessary, because Jaune figured it out. While Glynda and Roman were having their conversation, Jaune and Pyrrha were having one of their own. Pyrrha talks on multiple levels, and mixed metaphors, as she compares her and Jaune. The missing mother, the absent father, the desire for siblings... While the implications were closer and closer, it stops when the light shines just so, and Pyrrha's hair looks the same color as Roman's. Jaune realizes what he's about to do, what Pyrrha is really meaning- and that she loves him as a sibling, not as he wants. He doesn't believe it at first. It's when Pyrrha envokes Arc Words- the catch phrase/call sign that Roman uses with his children no matter his appearance- that Jaune accepts it.

Incest averted, there's an impromptu family reunion as the four are in the same isolated room. Jaune is heart broken but defends Pyrrha from Glynda pre-emptively, and thinks Roman made her go as far as she did. Pyrrha is apologetic, to both Roman for breaking cover and to Glynda for her deception despite how close they'd grown. And Glynda- Glynda accepts Pyrrha, without reservation, as Jaune's sister.

Roman, watching as Jaune and Pyrrha and Glynda form a new family dynamic, quietly shape-shifts and leaves. In doing so, he crosses paths with Cinder, who recognizes him and 'thanks' him for distracting Glynda from the tower. Some tense words are exchanged. Cinder puts together that Pyrrha is his daughter, and Roman is defiant that Jaune won't fall into her grasp. Clear tension between the two is clear. All the same, though, Cinder holds the upper hand- and reveals that Roman's cooperation is still required if he ever wants to see his eldest daughter again.

/

Post-Dance stuff happens. Jaune and Pyrrha rebalance after getting too close. The secret gets out to the friends, which causes ews and some hurt feelings of trust, but ultimately everything is good. Pyrrha's only talk in Beacon was to report on and protect her brother. She's gotten to meet her family, and then some.

While RWBY disappears for their Breach adventure, JNPR stays behind as Jaune, Pyrrha, and Glynda come to terms.

Despite the incest scare, Glynda accepts Pyrrha. Pyrrha has had plenty of chances to steal Jaune away if that was the plan, and she hasn't. More than that, though, Glynda has become a maternal figure for Pyrrha, given the loss of her own. Because of who Pyrrha is, Glynda finally reveals The Incident with Roman, and how their marriage broke as it did.

Glynda and Roman met when she was a young and trusting Huntress. Roman did what he usually did- took an attractive form, sold himself on his family's reputation, and lied until Glynda was in love and pregnant. This was usually the point that Roman disappeared, as he had for the previous women in his life. Then Jaune was born, giving Roman his first son, and Roman stuck around- and unlike the other women of his life, married Glynda.

The marriage was volatile from the start. Passionate and empassioned- as Roman had other lovers, and Glynda knew it, but kept forgiving him. (Again- she was young, and in love, and not as strict as she'd become.) When she caught Roman being involved in corruption, though- a dirty Huntsman- the marriage nearly ended. Glynda demanded Roman get clean or get out- and Roman admitted his reasons, and his infidelity, as his reasons for needing money. Specifically, to take care of the kids.

Glynda was not happy, but Roman proved it wasn't just a sob story when he brought in Neo, whose mother had died. If Glynda would accept his children, Roman would reform. Glynda agreed, and for a time they were happier- Roman tried to make an honest living, Jaune grew with an older sister, and Glynda watched over the kids. Glynda and Neo grew close, and when Neo grew old enough Glynda started to train her. There were still fights- as more and more of Roman's infidelities arose- but the children held them together.

The Incident was a mix of tragic accident and poor oversight on Glynda's part. Whether overworking, or pushing Neo to strain herself, or something else, the end result was Neo being rendered permanently mute. When Roman returned- implicitly with the intent to bring the recently-orphaned Pyrrha home as well- he saw the result and blamed Glynda for doing it deliberately. Roman and Neo both disappeared soon after, taking Jaune with them in the first kidnapping/custody fight, and beginning Roman's unapologetic life of crime.

Roman believes that Glynda harmed Neo because she was someone else's daughter, and has never forgiven her. Neo believes the same. It's wrong, of course. Glynda never intended to hurt Neo, and has regretted it ever since. But ever since then Roman has tried to hide all his children from her, including Jaune.

The story concludes with Glynda and Pyrrha deciding to make a new start of their own. Even if it's late- even if Pyrrha is old- Pyrrha believes Glynda, and Glynda accepts Pyrrha as Jaune's step-sister. Jaune and Pyrrha are close- close enough to raise eyebrows- but all is well. The new family of sorts resolves to move forward together- and then the Breach alarm hits.

The Breach occurs, and Glynda, Jaune, Pyrrha, and the rest of JNPR go to react. Family of heroes being heroic is happy.

Less happy is when they find the culprit- Roman, with the train, right at the mouth of the breach. Roman makes no excuses, or denials- and seeing the three fit so well together, he doesn't even make a defense or snipe at Glynda.

Roman surrenders, the Breach is stopped, and Jaune, Pyrrha, and even Glynda feel that something isn't right. That Roman's out of character.

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Season 3 and the tournament.

JNPR does well in the tournament, with Jaune and Pyrrha standing out together. Instead of cheering them on in person, though, Glynda is watching on TV- with Roman, in his cell. Interrogations aren't working, nor will showing Roman his children- it only makes him more determined to stay quiet.

The tournament progresses, and Glynda progresses with Jaune and Pyrrha as a family, but tensions and uncertainty linger. Two main issues stand out- the question about Neo, and what Roman is planning.

Neo is a competitor, but is effectively disguised to even Jaune. She's just a strange and silent foreign student who goes out of her way to casually harass him- and goes extremely hard on some team that belittles Jaune outside of a match. It's clear that Neo wants to spend time with Jaune, but can't because of cover. Instead she shoots jealous, even envious, looks at Pyrrha, mixed with anger/animosity towards Glynda- and unreadable expressions when all three of them together.

Neo is handled closely by Cinder, but with a separate leash from Roman. Roman is jerked around by the promise to find his missing eldest daughter. Neo is kept in line by Cinder's control over Roman, and her threats towards Jaune. Roman's not the only one who would be on a leash if Jaune fell into Cinder's hands.

Through Neo and her flashbacks, we get a (silent) perspective of Neo and Jaune being raised. After escaping Glynda, Roman trained Neo to be able to protect herself, like he has all his daughters. All of his daughters are strong enough to do what they want, and be what they want, good or evil. But Jaune- Roman didn't want Jaune trained, didn't want him to be capable of evil. Young Jaune was something of a morality pet to Roman- in part because Jaune could carry on his line, and carry something good forward. The only part of being an Arc- the name Roman discards when he takes Torchwick and commits to his life of crime- that Roman isn't ashamed of. Roman had left the daughters to their mothers, but Jaune is his.

Neo doesn't necessarily understand- even has childish jealousy and resentment that manifests in her habit of bullying Jaune- but she ultimately agrees as young Jaune becomes a morality pet for her as well. At different points it's shown that Roman and Neo avoid worse or murderous courses of action out of consideration or fear for Jaune- such as Neo not drawing her sword with murderous intent after beating Yang. They're still bad people, doing bad things, but not as bad as they could have been. When Jaune disappeared (found by Glynda), they despaired. When they stole him back, they rejoiced. When they were together, she was happy, and when they were apart, she was angry. Neo wants them back.

Roman, Neo, and Jaune had the same sort of closeness that Glynda, Pyrrha, and Jaune now share, and it builds as a source of resentment. Neo still resents Glynda- there's trauma and betrayal behind the passionate distaste- but she's builds a more and more negative view of Pyrrha as the tournament goes. Pyrrha is an outsider, and intruder in Neo's family, and an obstacle to reclaiming Jaune. Like Roman, Neo is fundamentally selfish, but her selfishness is more narrow- Roman cares about all his children, but Neo only cares about the three of him.

At the same time, Glynda handles the serious adult business with Ozpin and others when she's not being motherly. The question at hand is the Fall Maiden- and who her powers should go to. Pyrrha is the obvious candidate, but Glynda has new concerns she hadn't held since before Pyrrha's truth came out. Ozpin and the others mean to overrule her- or at least give Pyrrha the choice- but Glynda is hesitant to risk the new happiness she's gained. Especially as storm clouds gather.

Glynda takes the subject to Roman- and gets far, far more than she bargains for when she raises the prospect of transferring what's left of the Fall Maiden, Amber, into Pyrrha.

Roman explodes- tries to attack her and accusing her of attempted murder again- and while Glynda neutralizes him she's taken aback. That is completely uncharacteristic for Roman. In fact, the only times he's ever that angry are-

The bottom line- twist, plot, and all- is that Roman's oldest daughter is the Fall Maiden, Amber.

Cinder failed to kill the Fall Maiden herself, but when Amber disappeared and was hidden by Qrow, Cinder convinced Roman that he was to blame. Cinder believes Amber is locked away in Beacon, which helps her lead Roman to believe that Glynda was involved in the attack, another example of Glynda targeting Roman's daughters. Roman knows Cinder's not benevolent- knows that Cinder has part of Amber's power and wants the rest- but the fact that Cinder doesn't have all of her powers (which she should if she'd just killed Amber) convinces him that she didn't do it and got the powers trying to save her. If Roman helps Cinder, Cinder will drain Amber of her powers and give the girl to Roman. If Roman defies her, Cinder will simply kill Amber for the rest of her powers.

Roman wants to save his daughter, and does not know Cinder was responsible for it. He believes Glynda was involved as part of his grudge about the Neo Incident. And he wanted Jaune in Beacon to protect him from the Breach… and intends to take him out now that Beacon is the next target. As far as Roman is concerned, the Cinder's entire plan is a heist to get into the heart of Beacon- and break his daughter out. The Grimm invasion along the way? Just a necessary tool to crack it open.

Glynda puts the pieces together, or at least enough to realize that Roman's objective is Amber, and so is his likely partner's. Realizing it is one thing- convincing Roman he's wrong is another. Not even showing Jaune and Pyrrha and bringing them to Roman changes that. It only angers him for turning his own children against him.

Roman seems pretty unreasonable by the end, and the climax. The climax match of the tournament isn't Pyrrha vs. Penny- it's Pyrrha vs. Neo, the dramatic match of Roman's children. It's a one-sided grudge match in which Neo's frustrations are vented, and Jaune is the prize. Over the course of the fight, Neo is pushed to her limits, and forced to reveal her abilities- and be recognized by Glynda and Jaune. Jaune's shout for sister distracts Pyrrha enough for Neo to knock her out, but being discovered blows her cover. Neo grabs Jaune, gets out of there, and Cinder launches the Grimm invasion.

Jaune is guest/prisoner on the bridge as Roman and Neo take over Ironwood's ship. There's no gloating going on, no melodrama- only Roman being efficient and effective as he hacks systems and prepares to open the door to chaos. Jaune protests, but Roman ignores him. As long as Roman's family is safe, the rest of the world can burn. (Despite this, Roman is less harmful than in canon. One key difference is that Roman doesn't shoot down the rest of Ironwood's fleet- locking them out, but leaving them intact and preoccupied with the Grimm. Another is that Roman hacks the mechs to shut them off, not turn them against the populace)

Jaune protests, obviously, but the bigger objection is when Glynda and Pyrrha board the ship in a flaming bullhead to rescue Jaune and stop Roman and Neo. It's Glynda and Pyrrha vs Roman and Neo, and the battle rages while Jaune struggles to get free. It's a hectic battle, with Neo and Roman outmatched by Glynda's magic/Pyrrha's metal-exploiting semblance but running a hit-and-run attack complete with Roman changing shapes to confuse and disrupt the two heavies.

In the course of the fighting, two important things happen. One is, Jaune gets free and escapes. Despite the ship being the safest place around, Jaune gets to an escape pod and returns to Beacon- partly to help out, and partly to get out of the way for Glynda and Pyrrha to go all out.

The other part piece is the battle's climax. Be it Grimm or boarding party or cross-fire, Glynda takes a blow for Neo- taking herself out of the fight in an effort to save Neo's life. It's a touching moment, with a wounded Glynda giving Neo the heartfelt apology she was never able to give her for the Incident. Neo is startled, and frozen and disbelieving, as Glynda collapses saying that she loved her as a daughter.

Glynda's defeat turns the tide, and Pyrrha is subdued soon after. Even though Pyrrha repeats what Glynda said- that Amber is alive, and safe in Beacon from Cinder- Roman is in a 'I've done too much to back out now' mood. He means to complete this heist- to break open Beacon and get Amber at any cost but one- his family.

Which, obviously, is how he's defeated. After securing the ship, Roman makes to turn its weapons on Ironwood's fleet- the irrevocable action that will break the struggling defenses and allow the Grimm to overwhelm. The robots are already turned on the soldiers- Grimm will turn it into a civilian massacre.

Which is when Jaune calls from his scroll. Jaune is in Beacon somewhere, without his sword and shield- and with Grimm coming in all directions towards a crowd of civilians. Without the defenses- unless Roman restores the mechs- Jaune will be slaughtered by the Grimm. Roman tries to find where Jaune is- to send Neo out, or to turn on the defenses in just that sector- but Jaune refuses to tell him.

Jaune and Roman have a dialogue. Jaune thought- wants- Roman to be better than he is. But if he's not, then Jaune will be worse than Roman thought of him. Jaune holds himself hostage- to the protests of Roman and Glynda both- unless Roman backs down. Unless Father believes Mother about Amber.

After a dramatic pause, in which Neo looks at Roman for his choice, Roman removes the hacking card controlling the robot defenders. Having restored the defenses, Roman turns himself over to the tender mercies of his ex-wife, and starts his cooperation by asking if she wants to know where Cinder is.

On the far end of the scroll call, Jaune tearfully thanks his Dad.

The epilogue/finale occurs three years later, over the next Vytal Festival. Jaune is a senior at Beacon, sure to graduate, may or may not have gotten a girl, and is set for the future- and a spot in tournament finals after Pyrrha took a bad hit. With Pyrrha beside her, Glynda couldn't be prouder, and couldn't be happier at how happy Jaune is when he waves at her before the battle. Glynda dares shout that he'll be fine.

As the tournament prepares, the narrators recap the events of the near-disaster three years ago. Roman's defection turned the tide and prevented a massacre- the AI robots kept casualties to the Grimm to a minimum, the White Fang attackers were shot out of the sky by the Atlas fleet, and Cinder was rooted out in short order. Cinder was captured or killed, but either way her powers were returned to Amber who made a full recovery.

And who's present, as a guest of honor as she arrived to watch Jaune's battle. As did Jaune's grandparents- actual Arcs- who had cast out Roman but are pleasantly surprise that there's some honor restored to the Arc name after all. Roman was arrested, but submitted to a plea deal in exchange for his help in rolling up Cinder and her conspiracies. Because he kept irreversible harm from happening, Roman got… an extremely heavy sentence with possibility parole, rather than the several life sentences everyone else involved got. Everyone but Neo. Neo is under Glynda's custody- not free, but not a convict. The emotional scars of The Incident are healing, and there are indications that Neo's treatment of Glynda is now more like her bullying of Jaune, and her rivalry with Pyrrha.

Basically all of Jaune's family is there- or almost, with the obvious exception. Or exceptions, if you count Roman's still unknown daughters. Which an oddly placed Janitor does as he bumps into Jaune in the prep rooms beneath the stadium. Sidling up to Jaune, who's both happy at who's there and a bit down at who's not, the Janitor mentions a fan dropped off something, and Jaune finds a polaroid photo- signed by Roman, showing that he was in the crowd. Jaune races outside, eager to try and find Roman in the crowd, and the janitor watches him leave with a smile.

The Janitor watches the match, not taking a seat but just standing near an entrance, when Glynda walks up behind him. Glynda and the perfect stranger start talking about Jaune- how proud Glynda is, and how much family Jaune has there to support him. The Janitor is able to point out all the known relatives- from Glynda to Pyrrha to Neo to even Amber in a place of honor- but Glynda isn't satisfied. She frowns, because she knows Jaune wishes for more.

It's an end to the conversation- the Janitor could just leave- but instead he resumes speaking, and points out four separate and seemingly random women in the audience. The janitor gives oddly knowing info about their lives- how this one's a banker who Jaune could invest in, or that one runs a good apartment in Atlas, or that one is an inf-broker who could be trusted, or that one is a young aspiring doctor- and notes how they're all her to watch Jaune rather than anyone else.

What a coincidence, Glynda shares. And what a shame his father isn't there to watch as well- even if first reports indicate that he broke out of his jail, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

What a coincidence, the Janitor agrees. Maybe he had a word to keep.

Glynda knows without admitting she knows that the Janitor is Roman in disguise. Speaking in hypotheticals, Glynda says that if Roman were here, she'd give him an hour head-start after the match before she'd alert the authorities- which would be plenty of time to watch the match, chat up completely unrelated women, and still get away.

Roman breaks cover by marveling at Glynda's generosity. Either she's gotten soft, or she missed him after all. Maybe they could put that extra time to good use?

An errant hand is slapped away, and Glynda huffs. She's doing this for Jaune, not him, and is counting down the number of times she ever has to see him again. Right now, that's three- the second being Jaune's wedding, and the last being a funueral.

With a parting threat-reminder to not be too blatant at graduation, Glynda walks away- and considers giving Roman only 50 minutes instead.

-Fin-

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Coeur's Impression:

Can't write much due to connectivity issues, so asked C.F. to sum up my thoughts. Bottom line is, I liked this much more than the original, though I still don't personally see too much evil in Roman. Glands was less a bitch though, which was good.

I think the premise was good - no change there- I'd just advised a simple scoring system in the back of College Fool's head. Like for every bad thing Glynda does, she needs to quickly balance it with a good thing - and vice versa with Roman. As long as it doesn't end up with Glynda at -5 and Roman at +5 in the middle, it will be fine. Unless that's the point, i.e. it leads to him running away for a bit.

But yeah, if she (or he) goes heavy in the bad direction, and Jaune just doesn't react? It feels odd. Luckily C.F. improved it, and it didn't feel so bad.

Either way, the premise was fantastic - like as soon as I read the summary the first go around I was sure it would be incredible. It just needed to iron those kinks out, which CF. did.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

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A satisfying sense of improvement on my part. I agree that Roman never did anything truly evil, at least in the story- but I felt doing so would have irreversably tilted the scales in Glynda's favor. Instead, I think it's a passable influence of Jaune- showed better by Neo's viewpoint- in that Jaune the morality pet was something that kept Roman from going too far. Roman may not love his wife (though I tried to hint that, at the time, he did and was close to going straight), but he loves his children, and while Neo got caught up in the life of crime Jaune didn't. It was enough to help pull both of them from the brink, and it made a better moral and conclusion.

Yes, I am a sucker for stories with happy family endings.

Am I completely satisfied with the end-game? Not really. Roman could have used some more kick the dog moments, points that Jaune's bias better challenged. But I did like the role of Amber. It gave a focus, and a much better reason for Roman to be going along with Cinder than the Version 1.0's 'blackmail', which begged the question of why he didn't dip out except that Glynda still had Jaune. Instead, it provided an in-character basis for accepting risk, a cause to do something Jaune would ultimately oppose, and a forcing function to get him and Glynda involved again.

Also liked the premise of Pyrrha as the secret daughter. It was spoiled already, of course, and little more than a toss-away thought after the Version 1.0, but I thought it added a good symmetry to the end, when it was Roman and Neo vs Glynda and Pyrrha. What I really wish I'd done/had the idea of how to do, would have been a gradual bonding between Pyrrha and Glynda even beforehand. Back when Glynda just wants the best for her son, but letting her pick a mentorship/pseudo-mother role that she doesn't realize. Then it could have better shown the intent- that Pyrrha is what Glynda could have/wanted to be with Neo, had things not gone wrong.

So, overall, glad to be better. Helped that Coeur liked it- the cost of investing so much in these 10k fills (remember the days I didn't do that?) is that it hurts a bit more when there's a misfire. So I'm glad it was a success, and like it better.

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Special Author's Note:

And that's it for Re-Do Week!

Kinda.

There is one more, but it's such an effort that it's going to get it's own, separate posting. Meet the Arcs 2.0 will get it's own posting- not as a fully written story, unfortunately, but as a stand-alone summary fic akin to 'An Affair or Something.' Posting will begin Saturday, so enjoy that over the course of next week. While I post that, Coeur and I are working on something else a little special for Writer Games.

After the mystery special, we intend to do a week or two of miscelanious fills, and hope to follow up Re-Do week with Continuation week sometime in March. Look forward to that- but until then, enjoy Meet the Arcs!


	63. Valentines: Forbidden 1 of 3

The Writer Games (Or Something)

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Special Author's Note:

Welcome to Valentine's week, the special theme week that... doesn't actually include Valentines day, but is still a wonderful week for shipping. After all, we all know that the shippers went wild after the RWBY Season 3 finale, and Coeur and I couldn't be happier with the results of-

Sorry, what's that? Too much trolling too soon? Oh, alright...

More seriously-

This week had us giving eachother more latitude than usual in that it was all about the couples. We challenged eachother to one crack pairing, one challenger-dictated pairing, and one up-for-preference couple.

Or at least I did. Coeur gave me an overarching theme for all of them and told me to choose. What emerged was a single mega-fill that was all three. Prepare.

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Coeur's Prompt- "Forbidden."

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C.F.'s Fill:

Forbidden Love

Summer loved Taiyang long before Raven did. Making her move first had consequences well after her passing. Three stories tell the tale.

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Story begins in Yang's POV with the start of the Yellow Trailer. Yang revels in riding down the road- the feeling of wind in her hair, the sound of traffic, the feeling of speed as she approaches her destination. Yang parks, enters the club, and all eyes turn towards her as she saunters her way to the bar and Junior. She's sauntering, she's looking for someone, and when she reaches the bar she orders her favorite drink: a strawberry sunrise, no ice, and with one of those cute little umbrellas. It raises eyebrows, and Junior asks if that isn't a bit childish, prompting Yang's immature retort about his age, prompting he confrontation as Junior decides to humor her and gets pain for his trouble. When Yang shows a photo, Junior has some recognition, which prompts a more painful interrogation attempt. When the familiar sequence comes to the start of the fight, though- when Yang offers a kiss-

Junior laughs in her face. He doesn't kiss chicks without tits.

Even as Yang punches him away, for the first time we leave her perspective and see her for what she is- a scraggly, awkward, and emphatically younger girl who hasn't hit her growth spurt yet. While the fight against mooks goes similar to canon, it's clear that Yang isn't the powerhouse she's meant to be- and when she fights against the Miltia twins, Yang gets her butt handed to her. After a valiant fight, Yang is restrained by one twin, while the other tauntingly muses about tearing out Yang's hair as punishment. It's the first thing that makes Yang gasp in fear- the first time she shows fear- and the twins prepare to hack it off and ask how low.

Excellent question- how low should I cut yours?

So says the holder of the scythe at the twin's throat- Ruby Rose, heroine of the hour, and Yang's big sis. Crescent Rose's blade is at one twin's throat, and the barrel is right at the eye of the other's. The two recognize Ruby and make to protest, but Ruby's ominously chambers a round. Both submit and back off in short order. When Junior comes out, he too is shaken as he recognizes her- but despite his fear, Ruby politely apologizes for Yang's disruption and promises to take her home. No one stops as she leads Yang out by the hand, and when Yang turns to stick her tongue out she's comedically yanked out the door.

When the exit, it's to see Yang's precious bumblebee- a mere bicycle, complete with shopping basket and a bell. Ruby disapprovingly notes that there's no helmet- which means they'll have to walk. Ruby and Yang walk home, with Ruby silently leading as Yang drags her bicycle along.

At first Yang continues to be brash and overconfident- that she could have taken the twins if they hadn't ganged up on her, that she had the situation under control- but as Ruby continues to walk ahead of her wordlessly, Yang's bluster fades to discomfort and unease. It's not till Yang apologizes- sorry for sneaking out after curfew and causing trouble and not taking a safety helmet- that Ruby stops, turns around, and embraces her, giving her a kiss on the forehead as well. So long as she's sorry and learns her lesson, Ruby is glad Yang wasn't hurt. She's concerned about what Yang was doing at the Club, but the person Yang was looking for… it wasn't Raven. It was Ruby, who disappears from time to time. She was gone, Yang missed her, and so Yang followed. Ruby sighs, but isn't angry, even if she doesn't explain herself. Ruby is led to joke about how she's not angry because no one in Junior's club was her type, and Yang cheers up, and shyly asks if Ruby will brush her hair when they get back. Ruby agrees, and the two walk back hand-in-hand as Yang looks forward to their private tradition.

This initial sequence, and a short sequence at home and at Signal, establish the reversed sibling dynamic.

Ruby is the elder sister- Taiyang's daughter with his first love, Summer. Ruby is more mature than in canon- physically, mentally, and emotionally. Growing up without a mother and a broken father, Ruby took the lead in raising Yang. Whereas Yang in canon had her party-girl nature tempered by responsibility for Ruby, Ruby simply matured beyond her years. Ruby is, by almost every measure, a young woman- more adult than child, and more mature than she should have been. A true Yamato Nadeshiko archetype, wearing her cape and an elegant combat dress rather than a childish miniskirt. Fortunately, she remains a prodigy- and with two more years at Signal when she was already two years above her grade, her talent is remarkable. The only reason Ruby has never skipped grades was because she was too busy looking after Yang, and Yang is proud (and ashamed) that the one time Ruby nearly fought in a tournament for glory and prize money, she had to drop out at the last moment when Yang fell ill. Ruby is an exceptional young woman, seemingly perfect in every way, and admired by all. Her teachers respect her, her peers admire her, but no one is more important to her than her sister Yang. Ruby loves, but never smothers, her little sister, and as Yang has grown independent and grown up, Ruby has given her more space than she used to.

Yang is the younger sister- and possibly a bit younger than Ruby of canon. Taiyang's second daughter with Raven, she never knew the mother who abandoned them all when she was young. Ruby has bitter memories of Raven, and doesn't talk about her at all. Yang has always only known Ruby as her caretaker, and never felt the lack of a mother. Where Ruby is more mature by virtue of being the care-taker sister, Yang is more immature by virtue of age and lack of responsibility- honest and free spirited and good-natured by nature, but prone to saying the first thing that comes to mind and a fiery temper. Despite comparing herself to her sister, and always coming up short- Ruby is beautiful and developed while Yang is late to puberty, Ruby is a prodigy while Yang is just head of her class, Ruby is calm and composed while Yang is wild and free-spirited- despite all the contrasts, Yang loves and idolizes her big sis. Ruby is the sort of woman she dreams of becoming when she grows up, and she wants to follow in her sister's footsteps. Yang's reason for becoming a Huntress is as much because it was Ruby's dream and what Ruby was doing as anything else.

That dream is threatening to tear them apart now, though, as Ruby prepares to graduate Signal. Beacon is in the bag even before Ruby achieves Signal's highest score in history, while Ozpin is a VIP specifically there to watch Ruby perform in the finals. Even as Yang cheers Ruby she's worried to see her go. Not even a sisterly hairbrushing session- Yang's hair being the one thing she feels truly pretty in- and promises of frequent visits can satisfy Yang. Yang is clingy-affectionate, and doesn't want Ruby to leave her, and Ruby is uncomfortable but tries to tell Yang it is for the best. That space will do them good. Yang doesn't want space, she loves Ruby, and when Ruby flinches and tells her she doesn't mean that Yang goes out to sulk.

Yang goes out, and stumbles on a variant of the burglary. It's a different place, and so a different shop, and a different context when Yang bumps into Jaune Arc, newly arrived in Vale. They don't talk yet- Yang distracts herself with a fashion magazine fantasizing of being as pretty (and busty) as Ruby and attracting a cute guy like the one in the corner of her eye. Roman's burglary gets out of hand when Yang notices, and intervenes, and Jaune gets caught up in it when he shields Yang from a shot from Roman's cane. The intent was deliberate, the execution was accidental, but Jaune makes a cool first impression on Yang even so. Jaune gets dragged along as Yang pursues Roman, trying to drag the young girl out of trouble even as he follows her into it after calling the police, and Jaune gets caught up in the chase for Roman. When the two return to the shop, instead of being greeted as heroes they're quickly taken into custody and accused of trashing the place.

Despite the confusion and unsure as to what just happened, Jaune takes responsibility to shield Yang from trouble. Yang is again saved, starting an interest that's on her mind even when Ozpin and Glynda make themselves known and resolve the confusion. It's clear that Jaune and Yang were the good guys, even as Yang lets Jaune keep the credit just as he took the blame, rather than glory hog it herself.

A variant of the recruitment offer follows. Ozpin indicates that while Yang has skills, he normally wouldn't head-hunt someone as young or immature as Yang- and her immaturity is emphasized- except for something significant: Ruby is hesitating on actually going to Beacon because of Yang. Ruby has rejected skipping classes for years, and now is hesitating on the Beacon application due to Yang's protests and the distance. While Ozpin would prefer to give Yang a few years to mature, doing so would waste Ruby's potential, and so Ozpin extends an offer to Yang. The formal justification is as thanks for Yang's help in the burglary. When Yang thinks of how Jaune took the blame and so should share the credit as well, Ozpin- more interested in security Yang so that he can confirm Ruby's enrollment- mention's Jaune's enrollment and agrees that he can waived through as well.

When Ruby arrives soon after to take Yang home, she's surprised (and has a mixed expression) at Yang's proud entry to Beacon, and her tale of being saved by a cute guy and thwarting Roman. The mention of a cute guy is the only part that notably catches Ruby's attention, even as Yang expresses the start of her crush on Jaune, wondering when she'll see him again.

It's at Beacon, when Yang catches sight of Jaune on the airship. Jaune disappears- hiding in the lavatory- and Yang's eager to find him and introduce him to Ruby. After the airship docks, Ruby is approached by old classmates, and calmly stays behind when Yang spots Jaune in the crowd and gets lost trying to find him.

Yang goes through Ruby's Team RWBY encounters of canon. Yang is just as immature and volatile as Weiss and fights with her over who's to blame for the dust explosion. Blake gets involved as a bystander- but Yang is so volatile that Weiss comes off the better person (somehow). It takes Ruby- calm and graceful and perfect as always- to resolve the argument and start making amends, and Yang is shooed off while Ruby takes cares of her mess. Yang sulks, and has a fit of self-pity as she bemoans her bad first impressions as a brat to Ruby's elegance. Yang falls on the floor… and gets offered the hand by Jaune.

Jaune recognizes her, and is the pick-me-up ego boost Yang needs. He remembers her from the burglary, doesn't dismiss her as a child, and is even impressed that she got into Beacon ahead of her age group, even as he (rightfully) credits her for their thwarting of Roman. Jaune is kind, patient, and supportive- things that call to mind Ruby- and his hand up and a few quips of treating her like a lady sink it. Third time's the charm, and Yang is charmed, and starts a First Day Crush on Jaune. Even when he's honest with her- that he seems to have gotten in thanks to getting caught up with her, to the point that his transcripts were hardly looked at- Yang thinks its fate and has a lionized view of him and everything he does. It's the rose-tinted lenses of a child's crush.

So there's a certain pit in her stomach, when she proudly shows him off to Ruby and vice versa, that his attention is on Ruby after their first exchange- polite pleasantries in which Ruby thanks Jaune for looking after Yang on her behalf (with Torchwick, taking the blame at the police station, and now here). Ruby subtly indicates she's aware of Jaune's entry, and extends her offer of assistance to Yang's friend- and does it so gracefully that Jaune doesn't even protest that he doesn't need it. Jaune is smitten, and doesn't even look twice at Weiss- or at Yang until she elbows him in the gut and breaks the spell. Despite the nascent love triangle, Ruby shows no interest in Jaune beyond him being Yang's friend (which is admittedly more than she gives most people), and Yang has no ire or jealousy towards Ruby. In fact, she shares Jaune's admiration of Ruby when she catches Jaune staring, and warns him against open flirting or asking her out on account of Ruby having always refused all romantic advances. Jaune promises not to be a cad, Yang is understanding because she likes Ruby too, and Ruby acts as if she doesn't notice them whispering about her.

Initiation has similar parallels. Jaune's locker room conversation with Weiss and Pyrrha sparks not from him initiating it, but Weiss calling out to him to ask about Ruby. Weiss, who has a high opinion of Ruby from yesterday, reveals Ruby's near-professional career with Pyrrha. Weiss has designs on teaming up with Pyrrha and Ruby for a super-team, and invites her when she shows up. Ruby is open to the offer, but noticeably cools when Weiss insults Yang, and a bit more so when Weiss equates Yang with Jaune in terms of worthwhile additions. Ruby politely but cooly declines Weiss's invitation to be partners.

Ruby and Pyrrha are polite and cordial- though Pyrrha from the start is a bit more competitive with Ruby over their missed match. There's a bit of a one-sided rivalry between the Invincible Fighter and the Perfect Woman. Pyrrha also tries, and fails, to keep Jaune's attention on her rather than Ruby during the discussion- furthering that sense of rivalry.

Initiation happens. It's the canon teams, but with uncanon pairings for Team RWBY.

Yang and Weiss are partners instead of Ruby and Weiss. The dominant nature of the partnership is volatile immaturity- with Weiss trying make Yang act her age (or older), and Yang provoking Weiss into equally immature outbursts. While it's bickering and frequently abrasive, it's mutual rather than one-way, and the two soon act like sister their own age that they never had. Yang ends up giving Weiss the childhood she never had- in emotional expression and blatant rule-breaking- while Weiss nags Yang on Ruby's (silently grateful) behalf.

Blake and Ruby pair up as well, and have a reputation of being the calm, quiet, and serene pairing to Yang and Weiss's explosions. Blake has a tendency to moments of childishness with the other two- but Ruby is the calm and comfortable presence. Ruby is Team Mom, and will become Team Leader, and so Blake becomes disciplinarian/'dangle the dorks until they listen to reason' as a consequence.

Pyrrha and Jaune become partners, for reasons similar to canon, but also with an emphasis on Pyrrha and Ruby. There's a one-sided competition there. Pyrrha and Ruby have a past, nearly a friendship, which… not so much soured, but ended when Ruby dropped out of an initially promising competitive career to keep caring for Yang rather than leave Yang to Taiyang. She and Pyrrha were rivals that never had a match. Pyrrha is still interested in Jaune for not knowing who she is or fawning over her- but also as a competitive 'I claimed him' over Ruby. Pyrrha ultimately wants to be close with Ruby, and the rivalry is her way of trying to break through Ruby's polite but largely impersonal shell. In the interim, though, trying to win Jaune over is a goal with mixed reasons- and Pyrrha spends bits and pieces of Initiation showing off to both him and Ruby. Ruby fails to notice, whereas Jaune gets impressed by what everyone does, especially watching Ruby and Yang.

/

This is how Initiation ends, which is really the set-up for all three Forbidden fills. There are three main arcs which would be their own centric characters. The first is an immediate follow-on to Initiation, while the other two are parallel to each other.

The first POV character is... Ruby

/

Forbidden: Ruby

/

Ruby and Jaune's arc is mostly the Jaundice arc. Ruby is Jaune's first crush, first love… and completely different from how it played out with Weiss.

Ruby, by way of Qrow, both knows how Jaune got in (basically bundled with Yang, and to keep him quiet about strings pulled for Yang), and recognizaes that he's unqualified and undertrained. Kind and considerate and with ulterior motives, Ruby helps train him. Between his crush and her graceful approach, Jaune is more willing to accept her help than anyone else's, even Pyrrha and Yang.

Jaune and Ruby grow close- as friends, as teamleader- even as Jaune pretends he's not crushing madly and Ruby pretends she doesn't know. Ruby is trying to respect Yang's crush- but Jaune is as persistent as he is polite in being friendly, and they do grow truly close on their own grounds as Jaune relates by way of his own sisters. Jaune's consideration for Yang, his empathy of her role as Yang's keeper, and his gestures of support and assisting with Yang really do touch Ruby. Jaune's troubles- especially with Cardin- also matter to Ruby, as the more Jaune struggles the more she empathizes, and the more stressed he is the more he turns to her. They're friends, even as he's crushing on her.

The crisis of Jaunedice becomes the night Jaune confesses to Ruby on the rooftop. It's a stressful time with Cardin, Jaune is telling Ruby how much she and her help mean to him, and in the process he admits what she already knows. Ruby regretfully tells Jaune it wouldn't work, Jaune persists that it could, and believing he deserves an explanation Ruby finally explains why. She likes Jaune- and likes many things about him- and even admits that blondes are her type… but guys aren't.

Ruby is a lesbian. Between a bad past with her father Taiyang- one of only two people she doesn't speak or think kindly of due to his bad years of neglecting Yang, even if they've made peace since- and unwanted male admirers who maligned or tried to make her ignore Yang, Ruby has no interest in boys. Jaune is the closest she's ever come- in part by being unmanly- but not close enough. Ruby wishes it was, though, because it'd make everything else simpler.

Ruby is a lesbian, with a thing for blondes, and wants to keep it a secret. Not because of sexual orientation discrimination, but because of other consequences. Part of it is because of her team. Ruby is on a team of three other (straight) girls, and doesn't want them to be uncomfortable or uneasy around her. She doesn't oogle them or watch them in the showers, but she doesn't want to risk the dynamic either. But the real reason- the reason why Ruby begs Jaune that Yang must never know- is that she's a lesbian with a things for blondes.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Yes, Ruby has- or at least had- incestuous feelings for Yang. After the bad years, when Ruby was raising Yang on her own, she loved Yang so much that it gradually became too much. Sometime in her early adolescence, she kissed Yang when sleeping in the same bed- and though Yang doesn't even remember it, she was caught doing so by Taiyang. It's another part of their poor father-daughter relationship. Ruby has lived in shame of it ever since- shame of exploiting her sister's trust, of exploiting someone younger than her, abusing the affection of a mother, and so on. Even though she's never dared repeat it and never will, Ruby is a siscon- and the reason she's been trying to get distance from Yang is because she's afraid that if she doesn't push Yang away, she'll be too close to Yang once more. Worse is her reason for supporting Jaune- she's afraid that if Yang doesn't have her sights on someone else, then if Yang ever realized what she felt, then Yang might accept Ruby's feelings when she shouldn't. Ruby loves Yang, but doesn't want to tie her to such a taboo. So Ruby really does wish she could return Jaune's feelings- because if she did, everything would be so much simpler.

Jaune is stunned, but claims he understands why he's denied, and Ruby retreats… and Cardin emerges, having overheard. Cardin doesn't have proof like a video tape or anything, but he could still spread the story- and Jaune, in an effort to protect Ruby, blackmails himself to keeping Ruby's secret.

Jaundice blackmail arc continues. Jaune quickly share the truth with Ruby, which horrifies her, even as she's indebted to Jaune for keeping her secret and keeping her safe from Cardin. Jaune suffers, Yang gets furious at Cardin's abuse, and Ruby has to keep Yang in line even as she's torn between fear and gratitude for Jaune. As things get worse, Ruby wants to make up for it- and even broaches an idea of a sham relationship with Jaune, to 'disprove' any rumors before they could start- about her orientation, or secret shame. Cardin also makes clear that Jaune could be spared if Ruby went out with him instead- with some truly despicable comments of 'fixing her' with a 'real man.' Ruby is self-sacrificing, considering either, but Jaune won't accept them. Jaune doesn't want a sham relationship, and doesn't think Ruby should live a lie with anyone, let alone Cardin, so he holds out. Even if Ruby can't accept his feelings, he still cares for her, and she's still his best friend. It's a friendship confession that breaks Ruby's composure, and for once the perfectly mature facade breaks as the lonely girl inside breaks free.

The climax of the blackmail arc comes with Yang- angry at Cardin's abuse of Jaune and trying to stick up for him- catching wind of the blackmail over Ruby loving Yang. Yang hears it, but doesn't seem to understand it. Or if she does- and there's a scene where she's caught looking up the definition of incest and looking contemplative- she doesn't care. Instead Yang breaks the blackmail by short-circuiting the rumor mill. In the dining hall one day, Yang makes a big commotion to gather attention before shouting that, she just wants everyone to know, she loves her sister. Yang makes a public speech- to her team's shock and horror and public humiliation- about how Ruby looked after her, cared for her, and kissed all her booboos when she was little- even the ones on the lip. Yang makes the case that that's love, and challenges anyone else in the room to admit the same.

There's a silence at first- and the teammates who are orphans or people with poor relationships with their parents uncomfortable and staying low, while everyone else looks on- until Jaune gets on his table to do the same. Jaune proclaims he loves his Momma, who kissed his booboos too, and talks about how great she was. Jaune's standing and declaration is met with shock, and nervous laughter- and intense gratitude/approval by Ruby and Yang. It also becomes something other than shared humiliation when someone else is moved to stand up. This starts an impromptu public confession- by all the people with loving family standing up to say how much they loved their family- to the point that Yang's initial public show is forgotten. Anyone who would try to spread word of Ruby's incestuous desires, would simply be dismissed as an exaggeration of Yang's pre-leak.

Yang confronts Cardin soon after, in his next attempt at bullying Jaune after classes. Yang's tried to do this before, but for fear of blackmail Ruby has always held her back- something that hurt both of them as Jaune got worse. But even if the public reputation is protected, Cardin knows he could still reveal the truth to Yang, who is the person Ruby is most afraid of knowing. But Cardin trying to carry out that threat earns a punch from Yang- and another, and another, as Yang attacks him for not only hurting her friend, but threatening her sister. Yang equivocates her love for Ruby for Ruby's love for her, and won't think it's wrong.

Yang finishes, and turns, and embraces/is embraced by Ruby who has tears of gratitude. Cardin attempts a bash in the back with a spiteful throw of his mace- but is stopped by Jaune, who takes the blow and blocks it for the girls. Free from fear, Ruby at last acts, and puts Cardin down in short order, with a truly menacing threat for if he ever tries to threaten her beloved sister, or Jaune, ever again. Ruby is as scary when it comes to Yang as she is graceful otherwise, and Cardin is cowed.

Jaune and Ruby have a final roof-top meeting for the end of the arc, reflecting on its closure. Jaune saw a new side of Ruby- her fiercely protective side- and is mixed on the scariness but ultimately likes it. Ruby appreciates Jaune's save for Yang, and his action in the dining hall- if he hadn't exposed himself, Yang's action could have backfired. Instead it worked, and her secret's safe. Jaune agrees, calling themselves the sort of friends who can share these sorts of intimate secrets with eachother. When Ruby asks what sort of embarrassing secret he could ever have to match, all Jaune can come up with is that he hasn't even had his first kiss. Or, you know, at least one that counts. When Ruby truly presses, though, Jaune has something a bit more appropriate- that his first kiss was with family as well. It's an embarrassing secret, but not a shameful secret, because to him it was never wrong and just a sister who was struggling through adolescence. The only thing needing forgiveness was stealing his first kiss. It makes Ruby pause, and then she asks if she can try something with Jaune- and gives him that first kiss from non-family.

It's kind, and grateful, but there's no spark for either of them.

Ruby tried, she even hoped for something, but even if Jaune's special to her he's not that special.

Instead of feeling disappointed, though, Jaune comes to terms with the close of his first love. They two are close friends on good terms- and even better as Jaune points out that they can go checking out chicks together or be wingmen, a sort of thing that Ruby claims to be scandalized at… before letting the Perfect Woman façade slip as she's actually interested. She's been on a dating dry spell since Yang entered Signal, and the last girls she tried to pick up- twins no less- made the mistake of attacking Yang. (Yes, the Malachites in the club.) Letting her personal fall, we see that Ruby has a bit of a silly or sly side- much more like canon when she's being clever- as she starts thinking up wingman strategies between her and Jaune. At least one focuses on Jaune being annoying and obnoxious ala Weiss crush of canon, to let her swoop in and save the girl.

In a final exchange, Jaune and Ruby affirm their close friendship as trusted friends and confidants. Ruby asks Jaune to take Yang's precocious crush seriously, to not break her heart with a first crush, and Jaune does- and not just because Ruby can be scary when Yang is threatened. In exchange, Jaune not only encourages Ruby to find someone to help her move on from Yang, but that Yang will accept her no matter her orientation. Ruby is hesitant… until the scene ends with Jaune offering to introduce Ruby to his (single, possibly bisexual, and most definitely blonde) sister, and Ruby trying to hide her interest.

The arc really ends, however, with a final scene between Ruby and Yang.

Yang had been spying on them from a distance- watching, at least- and she saw the kiss. When Ruby leaves the roof Yang kicks her toes and can't meet her eyes, but asks outright if Ruby likes Jaune and if Yang should stop being so close with Ruby all the time. It has the air of someone preparing to sacrifice their happiness for another- though in this case it's not clear if Yang is sacrificing it for Jaune, or Ruby. Ruby pauses, before embracing Yang and telling her that Jaune isn't her type. Yang is confused at first- and willing to be angry at Jaune if he did something wrong to Ruby- but Ruby laughs. Ruby says she sees what Yang sees in him, and encourages Yang's crush, stepping aside and encouraging Yang to catch Jaune while she can. Yang pauses- wanting Ruby to know that she meant what she said early, about her loving Ruby- and Ruby's heart catches in her throat. Ruby smiles around it, or because of it, and openly reaffirms her love for Yang before pushing her away.

Yang darts back, pops on her toes to give Ruby a peck on the cheek that nearly touches the lip, and runs off- and Ruby watches her with a smile.

End Ruby-Jaune-Yang arc.

/

* * *

/

Coeur's Impression:

If there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's having something small change - and seeing what the fallout might be. It's what I went for in Professor Arc, and also in From Beyond - and something I love to read... when it's done well. Thankfully this one seemed good. I literally fell in love with mini-Yang, bar for a few weird episodes. I thought the "kiss on the mouth" cafeteria scene was... well, it wasn't the scene - so much as the dialogue used, which REALLY felt a little "too" young for her.

But that aside, I thought this was interesting enough. Yang was a shining point for it, and Jaune's crush on Ruby was nice - I would have liked to see more jealousy from Yang, even if she does love her older sister. At least a little bit of frustration, and even Ruby noticing it and being heartbroken, unsure of what she is supposed to do in the complex love triangle.

If there was anything I thought could have been improved, then it would have been to go a little further with the forbidden point itself. This reminds me of my artist one a little, in that the idea was there - but it kinda seemed to forget about it, and later ignore it.

You don't have to commit to it, by any means, but at least a little more internal agony might have been nice. Anyway, that said, I did like this - mostly for Yang - who was super adorable.

Me wants.

/

* * *

/

C.F.'s Reflection:

Can I just start by saying this made me uncomfortable? Like, this entire prompt? Technically 'Forbidden' doesn't mean 'taboo' but Coeur and I have discussed it enough that I knew what his intent was. Considering that a part of Valentine's week was to give eachother what we wanted, in lieu of a pairing I felt I'd give Coeur what he wanted and dabbled with taboo.

Let's just say the i-word- incest- and get it over with. Yeah, I was timid about it. It makes me uncomfortable, and depiction isn't endorsement. And I wasn't going to write Yang-Ruby actual incest because... well, really because it would be an unhealthy relationship dynamic. Not in terms of social taboo, but in socialization.

Incest typically occurs as an intimacy of first-last resort- by people who fail to have meaningful relationships outside of their families either because they always failed, or they never tried. The former is tragic, but the later is limiting- people who don't try to expand their social circles typically don't, and so it can be a 'settling' of sorts. That doesn't mean it's not sincere, but sincere isn't the same as healthy.

On the other hand, incestuous urges- which are what happen here- are actually normal parts of growing up and dealing with adolescence. It's not that different from, oh, school children crushing on teachers or benevolent authority figures, or the idea of the oedipus copmplex. As young people mature, they grapple with evolving feelings and definitions. Conflating types of love as your body and feelings change is perfectly normal. Not pleasant, not proud, but normal. Ruby has a poor relationship with her implicitly worse-off father and an abnormally close relationship with Yang that conflates a lot of different roles even as Ruby was coming of age and sexuality. Ruby's not a horrible person just because of what she feels, even as it still lingers and she tries to grow past it.

Ruby's sexuality, on the other hand... how many girls here have ever crushed on a gay man? Same concept in reverse.

It can be awkward, but also a touching basis if accepted. This was the other element of the 'forbidden' of this particular tale, and I wanted something a bit sweeter and kinder to balance out the ick-factor of the incest. Jaune has his feelings. Ruby has hers. It was never going to work, even if Ruby wished she could change herself to deal with that other issue.

But what it shows is that an unrequited interest can still be considerate and loving. It's not just that Ruby is better able to handle Jaune better than Weiss, to contrast or avoid the ugly courting of canon. It's that Ruby is able to be direct and honest with Jaune- giving him the respect of explaining an honest answer- and that Jaune's response isn't to go off on Ruby as some sort of monster. Or to exploit her situation for a fake relationship, or have any idea of 'fixing' Ruby. Even if there's incompatible interest, Jaune accepts his friends, and so there's still a sincere love and affection. It's still 'forbidden'- but it offers a parallel for both Jaune and Ruby to grow and move on together from feelings they know they shouldn't keep.

So not a bad story. Just uncomfortable for me. But yeah, I like Yang- and she gets more attention later this week.


	64. Valentines: Battle of the Harems

The Writer Games

It can take decades to write a masterpiece, and years to plan it- so see what a couple of amateurs come up with in 15 minutes after a prompt. College Fool, Couer Al'Alran, and the (mostly Jaune) story concepts that followed.

/

* * *

/

 **Crack Prompt**

 **Originally Glynda x Taiyang: Parent-teacher conference**

But I humbly asked College Fool for another, because… that's not crack enough for me! If this is going to be crack then I want it to be cracking! Not two people of similar age, who could easily conceivably fall in love. Give me Adam x Ozpin, or give me death!

Instead I got a personal attack on my character almost, the one thing that drives me up the wall more than anything else…

A fucking harem… no, worse – a double harem.

 _GG CF! GG!_

 **Prompt:**

Neo x Cardin. On top of Cardin x Cinder, Cardin x Emerald, Cardin x Malachite Twins.

Basically, Cardin's evil harem- counterpart to Jaune and the harem of goodie two-shoes.

 **Initial Thoughts**

Actually… nothing... I just had a plot instantly, in fact CF can probably attest to me responding in like 2 minutes with a plot pretty much lined out. Just one of those moments, heh…

I'm so gud.

 **Plot**

* * *

The story begins in medias res, with a small prologue. Cardin is sulking at a bar with his team, bemoaning their lack of luck with the ladies. It's hitting Cardin worst, since Russell has a distant GF and Sky and Lark are together, something the whole team was happy to support.

Either way, Cardin is the only one still single, and with his rep at school – that doesn't look to change. It's a moment for him where he bemoans his choices, saying that when he left his last school he wanted to remake himself and create a new identity.

He did that by going through female romance, and found the one most common factor – girls love bad guys.

Or they did… in fiction. Turns out that's a sexy angle when there's no risk, but in reality they want softer guys, which is why that dweeb Jaune has pretty much every woman (and some men) hunting him throughout the corridors.

Long-story short, Cardin's team tell him to be whoever he wants to be, before getting him roaring drunk. Cardin remembers little of the night, but for bright lights, dancing and something warm.

Cardin wakes up the next morning to a curious sensation. With one girl on his left arm, and her apparent twin on the other – both are in nightclothes, and he's in pyjamas – but still, he's in a sisterly sandwich and would be thrilled.

Were it not for the hangover.

As he disentangles himself and heads to the bathroom, he realises he's still in Vale – on a weekday no less. Unsure what to do, but unwilling to wake them, Cardin leaves a quick note and his number. Before rushing out.

As he does so, the girls on the bed crack their eyes open, one commenting on the man just up and running out on them like that.

"Hmm… so naughty," Miltia whispers, even as Melanie stretches in pleasure.

"I love them bad."

Things are no less bizarre at Beacon, where Cardin finds himself the attention of one of the new transferees, a green haired girl who compliments his "moves" from the previous night. When he acts confused she grabs his ass and says dance moves, before gyrating against him and leaving. He doesn't recall anything initially, but when her perfume hits him he has a memory of dancing with her like that.

Nothing really kicks off until lunch, when Cardin accidentally bumps into Jaune in the queue. Cardin is apologetic automatically, which Jaune notices, but before he can say it's okay they are interrupted by RWBY – who drag Jaune away while glaring evils at Cardin. The teen rolls his eyes but continues on, noticing three girls at one table (Cinder, Neo, Emerald) staring at him as he eats.

His team can't offer much in the way of explanations. He tore up the dance floor, flirted with loads of girls – proclaimed himself baddest mother-fucker of Beacon – and… they left him. He seemed like he was having a good time and that was NOT something they wanted to interfere in.

* * *

Cardin's harem woes kick in a little later that day, with a training session gone wrong with Glynda. He is against Yang, which is bad for him on many levels – even as Jaune tries to get a promise out of her not to hurt him too badly.

Yang nearly obliterates him.

But for the interference of a black-haired woman, who says she would like to fight on his behalf, while giving him a sultry smile. Glynda allows it, and without giving any of her powers away, Cinder defeats her – a shock upset for everyone.

When Cardin thanks her, she offers him training that night, should he want it. Cardin says he'll be there, realising that Jaune got stronger being trained at night – so why wouldn't he?

But when he arrives at the rooftop that night, it's to a less than wholesome realisation that… well, late night training? That's what the goodies might offer. Cinder has something darker in mind, and as she literally tries to force herself on him – Cardin has a burst of… well nerves.

His V-card is intact, and that counteracts with the bad-boy image. More than that, he doesn't know what to do, and she's making all sorts of insinuations. Blushing a storm he flees, even as Cinder swears that he can't hide from her. Even as he flees, he is accosted by Emerald – who forces him against a wall and ravishes his mouth – but when she grabs his junk he flees from her too.

Into Neo, who offers to hide him in a cupboard. Except once he is in, she teleports him to somewhere else. Somewhere he's trapped in – as she pushes him onto a bed and makes to climb over him.

Right as Ozpin walks through the door. It's _his_ personal chamber after all.

Neo vanishes, leaving Cardin there – even as he tries to think of a good explanation.

* * *

Ozpin and Cardin have a discussion over the matter – once Ozpin has accepted that it was something beyond Cardin's control (as well as shown Cardin a video recording showing the Malachites sneaking into Beacon). Ozpin doesn't give away much, at all really, but does say that if Cardin wants advice – he might consider seeking it with an old foe.

"Velvet?"

"Mr Arc, Mr Winchester… Jaune Arc…"

"Oh, right…"

It makes sense… sort of. Jaune has his own harem, and seems to be managing it fairly well actually. So maybe he could get some advice, especially if these girls are serious about hunting him. Hell, maybe this could be the thing which helps to bury the hatchet between them, once and for all?

It's not.

Cardin is able to corner Jaune and speak to him, revealing his woes, only to find that Jaune's apparent comfort with his own harem is a facade. Jaune's V-card is also intact, and it's only careful juggling of time, attention and romantic overtures that is keeping his Harem from going Highlander on him!

For better or worse, but mostly worse, they are in the same boat. In frustration Cardin stands up from his seat, accidentally knocking Jaune off his.

Which is how Blake finds them, Cardin standing over Jaune – arm extended – as though to strike. Or pick him up, but well… this is _Cardin!_

Jaune's Harem declares war on Cardin once and for all – to protect Jaune. And as they announce this in the middle of the cafeteria, Cardin is horrified to find his own fledgling harem standing up and declaring the opposite, despite being outnumbered.

Because, as they soon find out, Cardin's harem is pretty damn badass.

The cafeteria descends into a repeat of the foodfight, except with more violent aims – even as they refrain from using real weapons at the start. In the madness Cardin manages to crawl over to Jaune, the two making their escape even as Ren tells them to go on without him, that he will hold them off.

Jaune thanks him with tears, even as Cardin nods his respect to a fine man.

The moment they leave however, Ren shouts out that the two have gone – and the girls stream out to "save" their respective loves, believing either Cardin has kidnapped Jaune, or vice-versa. The remainder of CRDL, battered and bruised, can only thank Ren for his quick thinking, even as the gunman shrugs.

"Better them than me."

* * *

So begins Jaune and Cardin's adventure in surviving together, while hiding from those chasing them across Beacon. The Harems split up into their own groups, using their powers to cordon off the school. Jaune and Cardin are forced to work together and form bonds, to escape Blake's ninja sneakiness, Weiss' trap glyphs and Ruby's super-speed. All the way through to Cinder's flying, Emerald's illusions and Neo's… well… utter OP-ness.

This leads to "battles" where the two have to outsmart (because neither has a snowball's chance in hell of outfighting) the girls – often using their semblances against them to escape (a representation of Cardin and Jaune using brains over brawn – as they lack semblances).

Ruby and Weiss they outsmart by tricking Weiss into using an ice-attack, where Ruby loses her grip on the ice.

Blake and Yang make for a tricky combo, but they are able to get Yang angry enough (by having Cardin pretend to hurt Jaune) that she blows up a wall, creating debris and clouds of dust to escape into.

Between each Jaune Harem encounter, they run into a Cardin Harem encounter too. Which are much harder. To make matters worse Mercury is chasing them too, though he admits it's just because they'll probably kill him if he doesn't.

"On a team with three psycho women here, trust me – between me and you – I'll send you down every time. And by the sounds of it, you'll be going _down_ quite a lot."

This section would extend quite a while, with comedy at each encounter – often leading to Jaune having to fight on behalf of Cardin against C's harem (because if Cardin fights they molest him) – and Cardin has to do the fighting vs Jaune's harem (because they're his friends and he just _can't_ hurt them.)

Ozpin runs interference for the two as well, acting in a sort of "Overwatch" role or "command" – basically giving them tactical information on where to go to avoid things.

Similarly, Qrow even comes into the scene – willing to help Jaune because there's no way he's going to accept Jaune cheating on his nieces with so many other women. At the same time however, he is _very_ interested in Cardin's harem – and it's an early mystery as to why Qrow takes such effort to aid them.

Ren and RDL try to help too – but it's hard work for them, and they're played as comic support. The sacrificial cast that often suffers in comedy ways for J & C to escape. Including interrogation scenes where RWBY has Ren and are trying to interrogate him in cute ways. Ruby tries to withhold cookies from him, Yang and Blake do the _worst_ bad cop – good cop routine he's ever seen… and Weiss just tries to Tsundere order him around.

Russell on the other hand has much less luck caught by Cardin's harem – who are all more than violent enough to do things to him.

"You talked? Russel, come on…" Ren sighed, "I held out all day – and you crack in two minutes?"

"You had it easy you bastard! I cracked in two minutes, yet they _still_ felt the need to water board me for two hours!"

Through this time, Jaune and Cardin start to become more trusting of one another – though it isn't yet friendship in any way. More an alliance of necessity, mixed with grudging respect built from their past encounters.

Cardin starts to realise that what Jaune lacks in brawn, he makes up for in ingenuity and determination. Meanwhile, Jaune starts to recognise that Cardin isn't a pure asshole. Sure, he had some racist vibes, and maybe still does. But he's also loyal, funny and brave. He just wasn't able to look past the bad first impression.

Their bond isn't secured however, until the battles escalate. Jaune's harem gets it into their head that Cardin's harem has stolen both men – after seeing a Neo teleport moment. Similarly, Cardin's harem suspects the same of the goodies.

This leads to Harem vs Harem in Beacon's Halls – even as the innocent students scatter for safety.

This becomes doubly surreal when Cinder pretty much throws her plans to the side, calling in the White Fang _early_ just to fight this battle for her. The faunus seem as surprised as the students, especially since Cinder doesn't up and "say" this is what it's for.

When Atlas military bots arrive however, called in by Weiss – who totally didn't requisition them for such a silly thing like chasing her man. Definitely not! She told her sister it was a life or death matter, what fault is it of hers if Winter misunderstood?

The Battle of Beacon is about to begin in earnest – months before schedule. As Atlas robots meet White Fang soldiers.

It's at that point where Jaune and Cardin realise what a disaster they're going to cause. Because like it or not, a lot of people are going to die for this. Swallowing their pride, not to mention their insecurities – the two step between the armies. Even as there's a comedy moment where Penny cocks her head.

"Hmm Programming… Jaune Arc? Reaction… lust."

"For fuck's sake…"

* * *

Cardin and Jaune break up the war, explaining their concerns and reasons. Cardin admits that he isn't a bad boy, and isn't sure he can be the evil dude they're looking for. Jaune admits to his own that while he is nominally a good guy, he's as mortal as anyone else – and is sick of being protected all the time by them. He needs to grow as his own man!

There's a tense moment, broken by a White Fang grunt who coughs and asks if _this_ is why they've been brought out here? Atlas soldiers look embarrassed too – the two armies dispersing without a single shot being fired – each feeling more than a little humiliated for being called out.

Jaune's harem apologises to him, accepting Jaune's reasons – while also apologising to Cardin when Jaune forces them to.

Cardin's harem isn't so simple. Comprised of criminals and those planning the downfall of Vale, the jig is up, as it were – and there's a sense of danger in the air. Until, that is… Qrow and Ozpin walk forth, looking very pleased with themselves.

Cardin's jaw drops as it's revealed that Cinder has arranged a ceasefire with the two, agreeing to set aside her plans so long as she and her team are allowed to remain in Beacon.

* * *

There's a flash forward scene, an epilogue of sorts where Jaune and Cardin are mechanically eating in the cafeteria. Meanwhile, behind them is Russell and Ren, who has a large whiteboard on wheels out – which charts on it.

It's revealed to be their respective timetables – the two going through their daily schedule as they seek to keep the harems happy.

It's a packed schedule, where every hour of every day seems to be assigned to some kind of activity with one or more girls. From cookie cooking at 8:30 with Ruby, to Pyrrha's training at 7pm. Cardin's is much the same, and twice as busy because the girls are so demanding.

He has Neo with ? at 9pm, and only shivers – refusing to say what that entails.

"Well," Ren says as he flips some pieces of paper on a notepad, "all's well that ends well, I guess?"

He is interrupted however as a pair of arms wraps around his neck, an unfamiliar girl with green hair and a hoodie appearing behind him (Reese) – who whispers something suggestive into his ear.

"Back off Reese," one of the girls from NDGO says challengingly, drawing their weapon, "I saw him first."

"I think not!" Neon Katt shouts, roller-skating by as she snags Ren's sleeve.

Jaune and Cardin can only watch as he is dragged from the room, screaming for their help. Cardin lets out a long sigh and turns to Russel, asking him if there's space for another on the whiteboard.

Russel write's Ren's name on it, besides the one that say "Cardin – Bad Girls" and "Jaune – Goodies", he writes "Ren – Transfer Girls."

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 **End –**

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C.F.'s Reaction:

It's crack. Not only that, it's harem crack. What do you expect?

Coeur's the first to admit that it feels rushed because it was- like, it's practically his first note- so there's not much to add. Yeah, it's pretty much what his first idea was. It's just... self-awarely low calorie? Like, the attraction is just there... but what they're attracted to isn't clear. I mean, yeah, harems are normally superficial wish-fulfillment... but come on. At least you can claim Jaune is allegedly atypical for not being racist as a way to make him stand out for Blake. But what's Cardin offering? Stress relief?*

*[/shameless plug for coeur]

Still I giggled, and there were some things I did like and would like to see again.

Overprotective love interests for Jaune overreacting towards Cardin/others was something I wouldn't mind seeing again in a more moderate, developed fashion. Anyone who read my recent story 'Diary of a Concerned Friend'* can tell I have Views on the bystander syndrome of the Jaundice arc. Seeing it over-compensated for would be a good story dynamic and relationship conflict.

*[/shameless plug for me]

Cardin being the last person in his team to get a relationship was rich. Did laugh. Being just bad enough to be interesting to, say, the Malachites was another one I could almost believe- all the better by being insecure inside.

The idea of the entire Team NDGO as a harem... was actually something I considered throwing at Coeur at one point. Just to make him squirm.

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Coeur's Reflection:

Welp that's it – thoughts? Eh, it's crack so it kind of has to be comedy – also I was rushed as hell writing this. As I did it on Monday where I had to upload One Good Turn, From Beyond and a chapter of What happens in Vacuo…

So yeah, busy times!

The ending needs work, some kind of bigger reveal – a better resolution. I decided to go with a pseudo-ending where Qrow and Ozpin use Cardin as bait to try and prevent the disasters that occur in canon.

You'll notice I forced the harem on each of them, without any build up – and there's good reason for that. While I know people in polygamous relationships, trust me – it's normally through multiple monogamous relationships that it happens. Not eight girls after one guy.

Anyway, most harems in fanfiction are cringe worthy when they try to take themselves seriously… because, let's face it, they just aren't serious. It trivialises a woman's choice, and often their emotions too – because you end up with situations where you need to address the reasons "why" so many girls fell in love with them.

That's how you end up with all those crap Naruto crossovers or fanfics, where they all love him because… a manly chest, or eyes – or just "his smile." As though all girls are that vacuous in the first place, or wouldn't look deeper. Similarly, girls fall in love INSTANTLY – because hey, I have to juggle eight different girls, and don't have time for eight long developmental romance stages.

So I skipped that entirely, used space magic or whatever – the only true thing that could work.

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	65. Valentines: Forbidden 2 of 3

The Writer Games (Or Something)

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Coeur's Prompt- "Forbidden."

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C.F.'s Fill:

Forbidden Love

Summer loved Taiyang long before Raven did. Making her move first had consequences well after her passing. Three stories tell the tale.

/

Pyrrha Arc

A mostly Pyrrha-centric storyline, starting in the Jaundice arc but continuing through the Dance.

Pyrrha and Jaune's relationship is a bit strained compared to canon, in large part due to Pyrrha's jealousy and rivalry with Ruby. Though Jaune and Pyrrha get along well, it's not well enough for Pyrrha. Though never catty, Pyrrha views the prodigy Ruby as a peer and rival- and Ruby never seems to give Pyrrha the same consideration, even as Ruby seems to steal attention from (which Pyrrha doesn't care about) and Jaune (which Pyrrha does) away.

Jaune comes off as a bit of a jerk in this, but early on he's a poor partner for Pyrrha- not for crushing on Ruby, but in training with her at the expense of opportunities with Pyrrha. Especially early on Jaune prefers to spend time with Ruby than Pyrrha. When Pyrrha offers training, Jaune takes up Ruby's standing offer (Pyrrha bruises his ego in a way Ruby doesn't), and when Pyrrha tries some impressive feat she's matched or surpassed by Ruby.

Pyrrha is still a kind, considerate, and lonely person, she's also a competitive athlete. The fact that Ruby… isn't… just drives her up the wall. Ruby seems to do it so naturally, while maintaining a feminine charm and social grace that Pyrrha can only fake. Even Ruby's off-hand attempts at kindness- such as pushing Jaune towards Pyrrha for training- come off as patronizing and superior. Pyrrha has never been second-best before, and she doesn't like it.

While Pyrrha's frustration with both Jaune and Ruby is understandable, it's not entirely sympathetic. During the Jaundice arc, with her outreaches lost so often, Pyrrha has a dismissive 'just deserts' view towards Jaune's troubles- at least until she realizes blackmail is involved, and that both Ruby and Jaune are distraught. It makes her feel bad, and guilty for her one-sided rivalry.

Things get better with Jaune after his infatuation with Ruby cools. Once they're just friends, he spends more time with Pyrrha, and she has hopes of getting closer. But she also has competition from Yang- a friendly if over-eager fangirl who reminds Pyrrha of the fans who put her on a pedestal. Competing with Yang for Jaune's time and attention is better than competing with Ruby, but it seems like lowering the bar: Pyrrha is the better fighter, the better scholar, more mature, and (if bust size holds out) the better woman. But none of these seem to catch Jaune's eye, even as Ruby plays interference so that Yang can spend time with Jaune.

It's frustrating, and Pyrrha eventually gets an outlet when Ruby invites her to a spar rather than let Pyrrha try and spend time with Jaune. Pyrrha gets a chance to vent her frustrations- and the match, while tough, is a draw in Pyrrha's favor. If she'd been at the top of her game, she'd have won- and Ruby turns out to be as competitive, and doesn't want to lose either. It starts a series of spars between the two- at first over who would get time with Jaune, but eventually for their own reasons- to the point that Jaune and Yang come to watch them. It's a point of pride for Pyrrha- who has a rising mood now that she's finally able to express herself- that Jaune cheers for her rather than Ruby. Pyrrha wins the match, and (narrowly) secures her reputation as the best fighter in their class.

Pyrrha and Ruby's spars spark a friendship and increased openness. Pyrrha pushes Ruby to her limits- breaking her calm and composed nature- and getting Ruby breathing hard makes Pyrrha excited and the adrenaline pump. On the cool downs they begin to talk- first with Pyrrha trying to figure Ruby and Jaune's relationship, but then to other things, up to and including Pyrrha admitting her own jealousy/rivalry of Ruby. Ruby is surprised- having never really understood it- and promises to consider Pyrrha more in the future.

A genuine friendship emerges as things happen in the background. When the Blake's secret arc happens, Pyrrha is an eager volunteer to help in the search, and a confidant for Ruby as they look for her missing partner. Ruby had known the secret, and worries her keeping it made things worse, and Pyrrha reassures her. The food fight is another sequence between them, with Ruby and Pyrrha facing off and Ruby pulling an upset victory that puts her in the lead.

Despite the strong bonds, there's one thing that always stays between Pyrrha and Ruby- Ruby's interference between Pyrrha and Jaune. Even though Pyrrha's accepted that Ruby isn't interested, and understands that Ruby is supporting Yang's crush, it's a point of friction and frustration. It's also not helped by an emerging dynamic in Team JNPR. After Yang (and Weiss) meddle in Nora and Ren's love-lives to try and get them together, there's a fallout which can best be summed up as 'don't date within the team.' It causes problems- none serious this time- but Ruby (needlessly) endorses it in her team, and it sets back both Nora and Pyrrha's intentions by some time. While Jaune isn't quite as convinced- a hope spot for Pyrrha as she continues to try- the idea that in-team realtionships are forbidden is something else that's blamed on Ruby.

After one particularly bad sequence- in the lead-up to the Dance when Ruby is actively meddling- it boils over. It's a late-night sparring match with no holds barred. Pyrrha blasts Ruby, accuses her of meddling- and, with Ruby at sword-point, demands to know why Ruby would go so far.

Ruby responds by kissing her, shocking Pyrrha and allowing Ruby to flip her over and win the match. Pyrrha claims it was a dirty trick- but Ruby says it wasn't a trick, but her answer. Ruby flees during Pyrrha's moment of shock, leaving Pyrrha to figure out what she meant.

Pyrrha and Ruby are awkward over the next few days- both pretending nothing happened, but both knowing something did. Pyrrha tries to ravel her mind around it- bouncing between the times when she felt Ruby didn't acknowledge her enough to the times Ruby is too much- but is uncertain about her feelings. She still likes Jaune, and that should be reason enough… right?

She and Jaune have a private conversation in which Pyrrha tries to invite him to the dance, daring to do so before she knows Yang will. Despite managing to do so, Jaune declines- for Ruby. Mistunderstanding, Pyrrha locks herself in a closet in shame as she wants to cry for her high hopes and deep frustrations. Jaune follows, though, and on opposite sides of the door they talk. Jaune knows her feelings- because Ruby told him. But he also knows Ruby's feelings- because Ruby told him. Jaune won't accept Pyrrha's feelings because he doesn't want to obstruct a friend- even though a guilt-stricken Ruby has stopped all her efforts to try and push Jaune towards Yang after her kiss with Pyrrha. Jaune won't accept Pyrrha's feelings- and even he pulls the trouble within the team card- but he'd like her to consider Ruby's… or at least forgive her.

Pyrrha finally manages to come out of the closet, and she and Jaune reconcile. While Pyrrha is hurt, she is appreciative of his honesty, and after so long struggling to get his attention, it's more of formalizing defeat than a heart-break. Still, Jaune's effort is sweet- as is his concern for his friends- and even if she won't think on Ruby's feelings right now, she at least forgives the other girl her unsought kiss. Pyrrha opens up to Jaune about her past as a lonely Number One- how that fed into her rivalry with Ruby and her appreciation for Jaune- in a discussion that blends with her canon discussion. Pyrrha is able to admit that she not only respects Ruby, but envies her, to the point that she's jealous of the dance invitations Ruby surely gets while no one dares approach her. Jaune doesn't believe her, and promises to wear a dress if no one asks her to dance, and the two are reconciled on friendly terms again.

Dance comes, and as Pyrrha expected no one asked her out. She intends to call Jaune out on his promise- a little dig at Yang who suffered through a lot to go to the dance with Jaune and who would be aghast if Jaune showed up in a dress- but there's no malevolence, just teasing. Pyrrha is a lone wallflower, at least until she's joined by Ruby- who, being the untouchable woman as well as the perfect woman, hadn't been asked out either.

She and Ruby haven't talked since the spar, and Pyrrha is nervous as she waits for Ruby to start. Ruby starts by saying Jaune pushed her to this- cue Jaune waving from the dancefloor as he and Yang watch- and that Jaune told her that Pyrrha forgave her. In an awkward apology that needs no apology- and Pyrrha doesn't want one- Ruby gives an uncharacteristically stumbling confession of sorts to Pyrrha. Respect, admiration, and appreciation for what Pyrrha is and tries to do- compassionate, kind, but also competitive. Even Pyrrha's flaws are endearing rather than damaging. Ruby just wants Pyrrha to know- even at the risk of making their friendship awkward- that Ruby admirers her, and thinks a lot of her, and thinks of her a lot. And if… if it's not too soon after Jaune, if Pyrrha might be open to dancing with a girl, which is to say someone like…

Pyrrha grabs Ruby by the hand, and takes her to the dance floor.

Pyrrha isn't in love, but she's not on the rebound either, and the top two students of the year share a dance. Ruby is in an elegant sort of bliss as she takes peace in the moment- but Pyrrha is active, even assertive, and definitely challenging as she pushes a pace that makes Ruby breath hard. Pyrrha is competitive, after all, and no matter what it is- fighting, Jaune, or dancing- she hates to lose. Can Ruby keep up?

Ruby responds warmly, and asks if Pyrrha's ever seen her semblance. She'll catch up in no time. Ruby breaks her demure smile and openly grins, the silly smirking of canon, letting loose on the dance floor after Jaune prompts the DJ to put on the dance mix. Beside them Jaune and Yang join in an outburst of energy, sincerity, and smiles. As the dance ends, with all of them holding onto eachother in an impromptu group hug, Ruby and Pyrrha catch eyes.

Pyrrha gives a respectful nod.

/

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Coeur's Impression:

Here we have the second part of Forbidden, and i suppose CF has stuck to it - in some cultures lesbianism still has a tone of forbidden around it. And it can be played for that sort of drama, so long as you write it that way.

The biggest thing I could expect here that could be an issue is... well, it's Pyrrha. Cunning readers (re: anyone with eyes) will know what CF and I think of Pyrrha. So I'm always a little nervous when one of his stories involves her as a prominent character. Because honestly, if RT hadn't done it first, CF would have killed her off anyway! xD

Anyway, onto the plot.

First of all, "Pyrrha is still a kind, considerate, and lonely person, she's also a competitive athlete." - This. Why was this not in canon in any way? I think i've said it before, probably in my big AN in my Neo x jaune valentines story. But people who do well in sports almost universally need to be competitive and aggressive. That pyrrha in the show is so passive... so willing to just sit there and be a vacant soul? It always feels weird.

Okay, the metaphor for coming out of the closet was cute too.

All in all, this feels like it works, but that the emotion is a little lacking. From Pyrrha's side it's okay, and that works out because this is PoV centric Pyrrha. But I do feel like Ruby's reasons for responding to her are a little weaker by comparison. Especially since in the previous fill Ruby was established as a lesbian, but there didn't seem to be any real connection between her and Pyrrha.

I might have suggested more in the way of visual cues that Ruby is interested. Things that Pyrrha could misunderstand as being something else, but which the reader might come to see as genuine attraction. This at least would support the idea that Ruby is developing an interest on the woman.

WHat i might have liked to see more of, is the dynamic of Ruby as a meddler. Someone who os initially only interfering for the sake of Yang - finally showing a little selfishness to go with the nadeshiko perfection. But that, as things become more frustrated on Pyrrha's end, Ruby starts to show little signs - covert touches, heated arguments, I don't know.

Just something else to suggest a build up.

All in all it was okay, but probably the weakest of the three forbidden parts of the full fill. But then maybe I'm biased? (Hides "Go Cinder!" flag).

Oh, also - since this is a forbidden prompt, I might have liked to see more early resistance from Pyrrha. Maybe even a bit where she worries about the reputation implications, because she's a public figure who will be judged by so many people. maybe that's a stumbling block in their relationship, until Pyrrha manages to fight her way past it and decide that it doesn't matter - that she loves Ruby anyway!

Then - TWANG - Arrow to the heel.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

And then Pyrrha still dies as in canon, with Ruby watching in in horror as her lesbian love interest is blasted to ashes just after being on the cusp of reciprocating Ruby's feelings, and Ruby is even more OP because who would have guessed it but the power was inside her all along.

And Coeur and C.F. still talk about how it's the best episode of the series, because clearly we hate Pyrrha.

Actually, that's not right. That implies passion. I just dislike Arkos, which was synonymous with Pyrrha because it defined her for two seasons, and this is a bit why. It's _boring_. Either Pyrrha nobly pines after someone who is ignorant and gets happily ever after when he wises up, or nobly pines after someone who doesn't feel the same, and she has to accept it but rarely moves on.

I at least tried to let her do that in this one. This was actually the third I wrote, but the easiest to write. Probably because there's nothing particularly controversial here (unless you're the sort that gets uncomfortable at the idea of lesbians). It was originally more for Ruby- showing that she too was trying to move on- but Pyrrha was a better viewpoint character since otherwise she was just the third tier love interest who lost out and never had a character focus.

There's two elements of 'forbidden' here, neither of which really carried much weight. One was dating within the team- horrible idea, I strongly advise against it, but I didn't actually write much about it- and the other is, gasp, lesbian crushing on someone who's on the rebound. Which I also didn't make much hay out of.

There was a certain irony in Pyrrha focusing her feelings on someone who doesn't notice hers, and not noticing the feelings someone else has for her. I went a bit with that. But otherwise, it's not much of a crisis. Pyrrha isn't a homophobe. She's just interested in someone else for, like, 90% of it, and what's left is way too short for her to realize she was deeply in love with Ruby all the while. There were elements that Pyrrha cared more about Ruby's attention than she realized, but that was more in the 'desperate for friends and/or acknowledgement' sense, not crushing for years. And Coeur is absolutely right that Ruby could have shown more indicators than I put in, but then I was trying to surprise the reader as well as the cast and I imagined Ruby would be more subtle.

As for Pyrrha worrying about reputation? That might have been a worthy season three concern. Especially as the tournament occurs, and she and Ruby both need to avoid any hints of favoritism or bias towards the other, for ethical reasons in competitive sports. But as far as the dance goes, Pyrrha doesn't end up in love, or even in a relationship- she ends up with the respect of Ruby, and respecting her feelings in turn and at least being open to being pursued.

Ultimately not a bad one, but not a satisfying one either. It didn't push many boundaries, didn't dwell on the forbidden theme, and didn't do much but fill in a gap. But it did that well, and I felt it set up the last one by showing what was in the background rather than the 'main view' that the final one is.

(True fact: Forbidden's first draft bucked canon so hard, but was brought back to canon compatibility just because of the Season 3 finale. I didn't continue this, but the tower death scene was too good to not keep in the future. So you know exactly where I would have taken it.)


	66. Valentines: Forbidden 3 of 3

The Writer Games (Or Something)

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Coeur's Prompt- "Forbidden."

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C.F.'s Fill:

Forbidden Love

Summer loved Taiyang long before Raven did. Making her move first had consequences well after her passing. Three stories tell the tale.

/

Yang A

Yang's story is of a young girl's first love as she grows up. Jaune's is of dealing with the affections of a minor.

Yang is, to bring back a very important point, a young girl and a late bloomer. She's grown up, but not out, and it's late enough that people question how much she has left to go. She is not the bombshell of canon- she is before that, and before jaws dropped, and still in the time that being 'one of the boys' wasn't a bad thing. Between her rambunctiousness and rowdy behavior- and her barely-developing chest- Yang is often called a tomboy. Yang has a complex about that, tied to her envy/admiration/idolization of Ruby as the perfect mature woman.

Yang's development is also affected by Ruby as the elder. Ruby took more maturity from being older. Yang is more immature by virtue of not having to be mature. The most common indicator is her fights with Weiss- who gets grief for being just as immature (and flat) as a girl two+ years her younger.

Among those immaturities is love and relationships: with all eyes on her sister, and most dismissing her as a flat-chested brat, Yang is a novice to love. She's had crushes, but has never been in love, which is what her infatuation with Jaune comes to. Yang's crush begins for a simple reason: good first impressions. Jaune lucks out in helping drive off Roman, takes responsibility to spare Yang trouble, and then helping Yang up and treating her like a peer rather than a child. It starts rose-tinted glasses that shade everything she sees of Jaune and the start of a crushing phase that covers most of the first season. The fact that Jaune kiddingly teases her back, and even calls her a pet-name equivalent to Snow Angel, makes her giggle and cheeks blush all the more. The one sincerely, honest appreciation Jaune has for her- and the one that makes her blush quietly rather than bubble over- is his praise of her hair, which is her one pride and feminine joy.

Yang's affection goes through three main stages: struggling against her sister (who she wants no contest with), struggling against Pyrrha (who is the 'better woman'), and struggling with Jaune (to take her interest seriously).

The phase with Ruby, mostly during Jaundice, is her most immature. Yang has the worst reasons to like Jaune, the least understanding of love, and the most formidable competition in the form of her sister.

To say Yang is a jealous brat would be misleading- but Yang is jealous of Jaune's infatuation with Ruby. Only instead of taking it out on Ruby, she takes it out on Jaune, with mean-spirited ribbing and teasing to take his eyes off Ruby. Like a young child, Yang resorts to teasing the guy she likes to get him to notice her.

If Yang were older, or meaner, what she does would be called bullying. Instead, Jaune humors her- maybe too much- because he sees her as a child. Even when Yang pushes her luck, such as when she openly makes fun of him as weak (in a immature gambit to try and train him herself), his anger/upset is short-lived because, as Ruby can remind him, she's a child. Meanwhile, her team and friends are bemused (Blake) or impatient (Weiss) with her first crush mooning. Yang ignores everything wrong or bad about Jaune (to Weiss's disgust), with Blake paternalistically tolerating it.

Ruby, however… Ruby is the contrast that shames Yang. What Ruby and Jaune have is, from a distance, more noble and pure. Weiss commends Jaune's restrained interest when compared to Yang's blatant pulls for attention. Ruby is, herself, beyond reproach in her grace in handling such things. Yang is shamed by her own lack of sophistication (and lack of grace) (and lack of chest) in comparison, even as she loves Ruby dearly.

Yang doesn't just understand why Ruby would win a battle for Jaune's attention, though- Yang wants her to, because Jaune is the first boy (or person) Ruby has shown much interest in for as long as Yang can remember. Yang knows Ruby's been busy looking after her for years, and seeing Ruby take interest in her friend- in anyone- makes Yang happy in a 'sister deserves to be happy' sort of way. It's a mix of jealousy and delight that torments Yang, and her mature well-wishes for Ruby are balanced by acting immaturely with Jaune.

(Jaune, at least during this phase, is a minor viewpoint presence- his attention and priorities in the Jaundice arc are on Ruby. Jaune's view of Yang is as something as a pleasant baby-sitting job. He does it for Yang as a friend rather than some gambit to get Ruby's approval, but Jaune gets widespread appreciation for his willingness to humor, divert, and temper Yang. Yang can be spontaneous, but she's never spiteful, and her good mood and precocious crush are endearing enough. As the bullying picks up, Jaune likes to unwind with Yang when he isn't confiding with Ruby.)

When the bullying begins, Yang tries to stand up for Jaune against Cardin. Yang's retaliations get her into trouble, but Yang doesn't mind if it earns Jaune's appreciation and attention. Lower-level counter-pranks do… but when it comes to fights, Jaune is more humiliated than grateful when Yang shows him up. Jaune turns more to training with Ruby, and less to childish Yang.

When the blackmail begins, though, Yang is worried- Jaune gets pushed to new levels, and it distresses her. It also distresses Ruby- which upsets Yang more- but worst is when Ruby stops Yang from doing anything about Cardin. Yang doesn't understand the blackmail, and starts to have doubts about her sister for letting Jaune suffer like that.

The doubts emerge in one of their sisterly rituals- the brushing of Yang's hair- which marks the moments of private intimacy they've shared since childhood. Yang's hair is important to her, the one thing of feminine beauty she has, the one thing she has better than Ruby, and (of course) something Ruby loves. During a session, Yang asks if Ruby doesn't like Jaune anymore, and if Ruby only likes her again- which leads the brush in Ruby's hand trembling, as Ruby is overcome with the guilt of the context. Yang rushes to apologize, is re-assured that Ruby cares (and approves) of Jaune. Ruby acknowledges that there's a problem, but confesses that it's not something she can solve- which Yang doesn't understand, because Ruby is the Perfect Sister who can fix anything. Still, Yang- reassured that Ruby doesn't hate Jaune- tries to encourage Ruby to rely on Jaune more. It twists the knife more- but from Yang, it's offering Jaune instead of trying to take him. Ruby understands the sentiment, and (tearfully but hiding any tremor in her voice) promises she will continue to do so.

Things get worse, even as Ruby and Jaune get closer, and Yang resolves to do what she can to help both of the people she likes most. Yang overhears whispers between Jaune and Ruby about the blackmail- about how the problem is Ruby loving Yang- and Yang doesn't understand what the problem could be. Yang does some surprisingly diligent studying- and comes across the concept of incest- but she can't understand it. Not only does she not remember what Ruby did when she was young, but the way incest is treated (by the books, by Weiss) is incompatible with her feelings for Ruby. Incest is icky and bad. Ruby is wonderful and good. Love is good- what she feels for Jaune makes her feel good- so how can love of family be bad?

Yang doesn't get it- not entirely- but a clever reader would note that Yang's feelings of love blur. Yang doesn't differentiate romantic love from familial love- one way of saying that she feels for Jaune like a brother- but Yang takes away that loving your family is bad. That doesn't make sense to her- she thought it was normal- so Yang resolves to try it out.

Yang does her dining room stand-up and shout-out to prove that there's nothing wrong with loving family. Despite her bravado, though, Yang is nervous- especially when she's the center of attention and no one else utters a word. They're too embarrassed to- an embarrassment Yang feels creeping up- and Yang is moments from climbing down in disgrace when Jaune stands up.

Jaune standing up and proclaiming his love for family is the watershed, but also a moment of infinite relief for Yang. It proves she's normal, and supports the point she's trying to make for Ruby, and it saves her public humiliation. It also clearly touches Ruby, who Yang wanted to help with this. Yang has a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach for Jaune at that moment- no longer the giddy butterflies of her crush, but a sense of serene and comforting warmth that makes her feel like when she is with Ruby. Yang goes away happy, and content, and even proud of Jaune (a word she hasn't used previously). Yang's role in the confrontation, and Jaune's taking the blow, adds to that- and Yang begins to mature to a new sort of feeling. Genuine admiration.

The proof of this new maturity is when Yang spies on/spots Jaune and Ruby spending time together, and witnesses the kiss. Yang hurts a bit… but also is happy for not just Ruby, but Jaune. She doesn't want to hurt him. Maybe a little, when she approaches Ruby and fears the worst, but not out of jealousy. Ruby's good cheer, and encouragement of her feelings for Jaune, push Yang forward- but not without a final, ambiguous, moment of ultimately sisterly tenderness.

Yang goes to see Jaune on the roof- but when Jaune asks if she wants to play (the usual term), she denies it. She wants to hang out. She's trying to be more mature- and Jaune notices, asking if she's grown up. Yang proudly affirms that she has. Yang and Jaune talk a bit, a bit about Ruby, and Yang ends up inviting Jaune to talk while brushing her hair, inviting him to the private tradition previously reserved for Ruby.

Following the Jaundice/Ruby arc comes the rivalry with Pyrrha. This really covers the rest of season 1 and the start of season 2.

Yang's feelings for Jaune are still young, but start to mature over the post-Jaundice period. As Jaune stabilizes as a more mature person, he's better to be around… but also spending more time with Pyrrha.

Pyrrha is as subject of admiration for Yang, who falls into the category of 'fan'. Pyrrha isn't as great as Ruby- no one is, obviously- but Pyrrha is a next-best measuring stick. Pyrrha is strong. Pyrrha is smart. Pyrrha is polite. Pyrrha even has hair- nicer hair than Ruby's short style, and more in Yang's ballpark. Pyrrha also has a nice rack- something Yang doesn't and is afraid she never will. Pyrrha is, in short, the triumph over a lot of Yang's feminine insecurities, rolled into one.

She's also Jaune's partner, which gives her an obvious advantage in the subtle rivalry they have. Yang considers herself at a disadvantage, but she's too stubborn/competitive/her feelings are too strong/are actually genuine for Yang to quit.

Yang competes for Jaune's attention, but not as childishly as she did before. She makes time, schedules dates in advance, and even starts to plan, so that she doesn't come across as clingy. But what Yang really does- what really starts to make an impact on Jaune without him realizing it- is earning his respect. As Yang competes against Pyrrha not merely as a love-interest, but a rival to be measured against, Yang also improves herself as a person. She studies more. She applies herself. And she does less childish things that, while endearing, also lowered opinion.

She's helped in all of these by Weiss, as the two reach an equilibrium and less fighting. Weiss has moved beyond scoffing at Yang's affections (just as Yang has stopped childishly romanticizing them so), and turned to exploiting Yang's crush for her own advantage. Realizing that Yang will do a lot of things for the sake of her crush on Jaune, Weiss starts putting everything in terms of impressing Jaune. Yang falls for it hook, line, and sinker- being a better student, a more polite person, a more girly girl- but Weiss also pushes Yang to be a more patient and better person. To be more adult, more mature, with the justification that Jaune will like it more. Yang still has immature elements, but fewer and further between.

Which he does. Yang goes from being a handful- fun but tiring- to being pleasant to be around. She's still wild, but channels it better. Jaune stops treating her like a total child, and more like a young girl, and that's 's also a progress that frustrates Pyrrha and her own intentions- and leads to a brief crisis when Pyrrha snaps and berates Jaune for going along with Yang's crush as long as he has. Pyrrha calls Yang a child, and directly raises her age, and it's a hurtful moment which makes Yang curl her hands. But instead of angrily fighting back- of name-calling and temper-tantrum that she might have- Yang bites her lip and tries not to cry as she doesn't want to make a scene. As much as it hurts, Yang does her best not to act as a child.

It gets vindicated with Jaune coming to her defense, and berating Pyrrha. It's more than a victory for Yang at Pyrrha's expense- it's an open acknowledgement by Jaune that he's aware of Yang's feelings, but he's not going to crush them. He likes Yang, enough to be offended on her behalf, and he's not going to crush her crush anymore than Ruby did his. Pyrrha is forced to apologize, and Yang maturely accepts it rather than adopt a vendetta, and the incident soon blows past with Jaune (and Ruby) mediating, and soon Yang is trying to be friendly with Pyrrha again, despite the spat.

Pyrrha relents, peace is restored, and Jaune invites Yang into Vale with him as a reward for her good behavior. It's a date of sorts- and the skinny and awkward Yang is delighted and imagines people confusing them for a couple. But it's on the same day that Blake's ears are discovered by Weiss. Yang regretfully resolves to leave her Big Chance to go look for Blake instead- and gets Jaune's approval and promise of a rain check for doing so. Jaune commends her for putting her team first, and compliments her growth. She's becoming a fine young lady.

Yang leaves with more warm and fuzzy rather than giggling blushing. Jaune appreciates her growth- and when she checks herself in the mirror that night, after the crisis is solved and Ruby mediates and Blake is back- when Yang checks herself out in the mirror, she realizes she's grown in size. She's bigger than Weiss now. It's a joyous day all around.

(Except for Weiss, who's back in last to a girl years younger.)

It's the beginning of Yang's long-delayed growth spurt- a subject and experience as awkward and uncomfortable as it is eagerly received. Yang feels herself growing, and as she does she makes progress in not only acting her age but, more impressively, a little bit older. A little bit more mature. More like the other people their grade, and a lot closer to what Jaune takes seriously.

And as he does, that causes problems.

Yang's crush has been apparent for ages, but Jaune's never made issue of it. When it was precocious, it was harmless. Considering how kindly Ruby treated him and his affection, he wasn't going to make light of Yang's. But as Yang's affections continue- as they don't fade away or morph into friendliness but actually intensify and gain grounding- Jaune starts to be concerned about how he's supposed to deal with it. Ruby's not much help- after all, she encourages Yang's feelings both to support Yang's desires and to give some healthy distance between the sisters- and Jaune is left to handle both Yang's feelings and the social implications… and the question of his own.

Yang and Jaune have a good relationship that's grown in the half-year since they met. It used to be babysitting a child, but Yang's grown rapidly in Beacon. She's now a young friend- his youngest, but a peer. She's also grown on him in terms of liking her as a person. Yang's mellowed with Weiss, accepted Blake, even stood up for him. She's also doing her best to go toe to toe with Pyrrha, who he respects, and is giving her a run for her money at times. As Jaune brushes her hair- a tradition he'd been invited to by Yang since Jaundice- Jaune realizes Yang is going to become a young woman soon. One he'll have to have an opinion on. Her crush hasn't gone away, and he can't ignore it forever.

Jaune tries to put it off- even becomes uncomfortable with Yang from time to time- as good times continue. Yang and Weiss, in a mix of childish romanticism and friendly benevolence, try to hook up Ren and Nora as a good deed/proof of Weiss's mastery of love advice for Yang/a rehearsal for Yang's mobilizing feelings for Jaune. For Weiss it's something of an embarrassing proof of romantic immaturity- that she's been brought down to Yang's level as much as the other way around. It also serves as 'proof' of her romantic credentials to Yang- that Weiss knows what she's talking about, and that Weiss could help Yang appeal to Jaune and win his heart.

The effort backfires when Ren isn't ready to commit to anything with Nora (yet). Despite Nora's feelings being outed nothing too bad happens, but it sparks a consensus about avoiding drama within the teams, much to Pyrrha's displeasure. Still, it was such a good faith effort (that Jaune privately supports) that it moves Jaune to thinking more about Yang. Enough to distract him in the food fight, where things are reconciled and which actually begins as a fight over home-cooking. (Yang and Pyrrha fight over Jaune eating their equally bad food, Ren and Nora are back on good terms in beating Weiss, and where Ruby wins the cooking contest hands down.)

Yang and Jaune also have a private adventure in the context of the White Fang investigation arc, when Yang jumps for the opportunity to team up with Jaune for their own private adventure. Ruby, being supportive rather than oblivious of the romantic dynamics, volunteers to take Pyrrha herself.

(She would, lol.)

Jaune and Yang go the club for intel, and a first happens for Yang- one of the goons working for Junior approaches her and attempts to put the moves on her. Yang plays along- showing her future skills as a party girl- but the situation is scattered when Jaune breaks in. Jaune objects on grounds of propriety and that the guy was too old for Yang, but he's actually acting jealous. Yang realizes and calls him out on it- delighted in what's a victory for her appeal- when the call for the mech sequence comes. Yang and Jaune chase after it, hijacking a motorcycle (that will become Bumblebee), and join the chase as Jaune drives. Feeling Yang's chest on his back distracts him, and when Yang jumps from the bike to rodio that Paladin, Jaune's heart catches in his throat.

Jaune is a bystander up on the freeway during the fight, and his awareness of (and concern for) Yang stand out as Yang pulls out her semblance for the win. For Yang it's a triumphant day all around- she impressed Jaune with the fight, got him to notice her as a girl, and he even got jealous- but her post-battle high is ended when Jaune returns to his objections at the club. There is something standing between Yang and a relationship with Jaune. Yang's age is officially an issue.

The issue of age, maturity, and growth (spurt) define the final act and lead-up to the Dance. Yang is a minor- and more than a few people (though mostly CRDL) have pointed it out to Jaune. There's nothing illegal with dating so long as they don't do anything illegal, but there's a mixed social presence. Some see nothing wrong with Hunters doing what they want with who they want as long as it's consensual: if you're old enough to kill and be killed, you're old enough for sex. Others are more classical morality- and the age gap is an issue. Not a huge one, since Jaune is technically a minor as well, but 'jailbait wait' is generally disapproved of.

What really sticks with Jaune, though- and Yang- is the prospect of waiting. For Yang, it's a matter of expecting patience for something she sees no reason to agree with. She has her feelings. She doesn't expect them to go away any time soon. And she doesn't want them to- she doesn't want to let them whither on the vine, wasted by time, just because some people are uncomfortable until an arbitrary convention.

For Jaune, it's a question of whether he'd be settling or leading Yang on. If Jaune waits, but changes his mind or decides not to because she's not his type, then Yang would be waiting all that time for nothing. Jaune wouldn't feel right about that. But Jaune also wouldn't feel right about waiting for Yang, and then deciding to go out with her fully developed post-growth spurt self. If he did that, it'd be too close to only dating her because she was attractive- because of her appearance, rather than who she was before he committed to any sort of decision. And even if it was neither- even if Jaune intended to date her, but waited out the clock- the jailbait wait would be worse in his mind, because he'd still be making the emotional commitment with her while hypocritically pretending that was alright.

Ultimately Jaune wants to make a decision now- either yes or no- but he's uncertain whether Yang is grown up enough for that sort of choice. If she's not, it's a no. And if she is… it might still be a no.

That's why Jaune ultimately asks Yang out to the Dance. He wants to make a decision- and he wants to take her seriously, at her best.

(The fact that Ruby is crushing on Pyrrha? It's a factor- the reason he doesn't avoid the dilemma by going with the safe option- but he's willing to give Yang a chance to impress him.)

Yang turns to her team and friends for help. They're all supportive in their own ways. Weiss repeats the oft-mentioned joke that they're practically the same age- only instead of an insult to Weiss, it's now a compliment to Yang as Weiss goes to great effort to give Yang an elegant, and flattering, dress. Blake, on the other hand, gives Yang some coaching in more mature things… including how to attract men. Blake also gives Yang some of her novels as study material- causing some comedic mis-selection of material and late-night moans of Jaune's name in the dorm, and much embarrassment overall as Blake has to explain to Ruby and Weiss has to deal with Yang's sexual awakening.

But Ruby… Ruby pulls out all the stops she can to help Yang's night go well. Ruby, who's always had a cool relationship with Taiyang for reasons Yang never understood, none the less sends to Patch, and provides Yang the dress Summer Rose wore when she confessed to Taiyang. It's a small dress, for a slender woman, but right now it will fit Yang perfectly. It's a touching gift- and the only discussion of the mother neither of them remember (and the only one either of them acknowledge, as the only person Ruby dislikes more than Taiyang is her hatred of Raven for abandoning Yang). Ruby helps Yang change and prepare for the ball. As Ruby takes care of Yang's hair after Yang puts on the backless dress, it's a moment in which something changes. It's no longer sisters who could be mother and daughter- it's sisters who are friends and peers, and both in love in their own way with someone else.

Ruby finally confesses to Yang her attraction to Yang's rival, Pyrrha- and thus her attraction to girls- and despite Ruby's hesitance Yang accepts her instantly and without question. Yang embraces Ruby, and they realize that she's finally just as tall. Yang has grown up, and for once is able to reassure Ruby instead of just the other way around. Yang gives her full support and best wishes for success, just as Ruby gives the same. The sisters kiss eachother on the cheek, express their love, and leave for the dance together.

Jaune arrives to Yang from Ruby, they part ways, and they dance. It's a formal dance first this year, and Yang does everything she can to be perfect. She dances by the book, she minds her manners, and remembers everything Weiss taught her. She doesn't even step on Jaune's foot, or mind when he does hers.

So why isn't Jaune smiling?

They dance, and Yang enjoys it, but not as much as she might- and when they leave the dance floor, she's slightly relieved even as she's worried that the magic isn't flowing. Even Jaune notices when he asks if she's having fun- and points out that she's not smiling either.

He likes her more when she smiles and has fun.

It's a down moment- something that makes her worry she messed up- except that Jaune turns and guides her somewhere else- something that will make her smile. Checking his watch, Jaune prompts her to a scene on the balcony overlooking the floor- where Ruby and Pyrrha are talking, and Ruby is just beginning her confession with Pyrrha. Yang realizes what is happening, and is delighted, and is excited with Jaune as Ruby goes ahead. There's no kiss, but when Pyrrha leads Ruby to the dance floor Yang suppresses a squeal. She jokes about how Ruby 'Rose' to the occasion, sparking a chuckle from Jaune and a shared grin at her emerging sense of punnery.

Jaune points out that she's finally smiling, and takes her back to the dance floor.

Jaune and Yang dance, and this time it's more fun. Yang discards what Weiss said about propriety, and she and Jaune dance closer- scandalously so, as Yang pulls close and Jaune holds tight and lower. Despite the energy, there's also words- and Yang's own happy ending of the night.

Jaune has decided to accept her feelings. It's not just one thing, no one gesture, but tonight she's given him a view of who she will be. Not once has he thought of her as a child. She showed patience (mostly) in working this and him for so long. She showed diligence in learning how to dance from Weiss. She's showed charm as Blake taught her. And most of all she's shown Ruby's happiness at the happiness of others- for Ruby, and for Pyrrha, and for everyone else. As far as he's concerned, she's an adult, more mature than most of their doubters. Nothing they say can convince him otherwise.

And she's beautiful, even as he strokes her hair and ultimately cups her cheek. Not awkward, or gangly, or tomboyish at all.

Yang is overjoyed, but cheekily refuses when he asks her to be his girlfriend. She's the one who pushed this long- he'll be her boyfriend. Jaune agrees, Yang breaks decorum by shouting in joy, and swoons when Jaune ends the dance with a kiss. Yang ignores the harder looks, and revels in the light applause that follows. When they break, Yang puns once again by joking Xiao Long she's been waiting for that. As Yang recovers, grin wide, she sees Ruby smiling for her even as she dances with Pyrrha. Knowing that her sister will always be looking out for her and cheering her on makes Yang happy.

Having had enough for the stuffy formalities, and betting others have to, Yang prompts Jaune to get a new track from the DJ. The dance remix comes on, with Ruby, Pyrrha, Yang, and Jaune all dancing together as the crowd turns to general applause. The rest of their teams are watching and smile approvingly.

The song passes, the dance ends, and Jaune and Yang go their own ways from Ruby and Pyrrha. Ruby gives a playful threat to Jaune if he doesn't have Yang back by midnight, and Yang cheekily retorts that the same goes for Pyrrha before Yang and Jaune get some privacy.

They kiss as Yang sits on Jaune's lap, but more than make out they really they hold eachother as Jaune strokes her hair and they both come to terms with the relationship he's entering. Happy that he is, but curious as to what he likes about her, Yang asks why he made his choice. Jaune begins to list… and realizes that she's fishing for compliments. She is, with a pun about Xiao Long he can keep it going, but rather than be annoyed Jaune says that sort of immaturity is a part of her he hopes she never grows out of. Though he does hope she can come up with more puns than just her last name.

Yang is happy, Yang is playful, and Yang is audacious when she presses against places she shouldn't and asks about if that's his Arc sword in his pocket or if he's just happy to see her. But most of all, Yang is tantalizing. She's glad Jaune said yes and accepted her feelings now- because Jaune has a sincerity he wouldn't have been able to prove otherwise. His intent, of not waiting for her growth spurt to finish and choosing afterwards, means a lot to her. He loves her even before he knows what he's getting, and Yang promises him that he won't regret it. That one day, she'll be good enough to make Ruby's head turn.

But until then?

He has the limited time opportunity of loving her now.

Yang gets up, turns off the light, and locks the door.

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Coeur's Impression:

So here we move onto part three of the forbidden angle – and the one CF was perhaps the most worried about. Forbidden romance is a huge sub-genre of romance, and a very popular one. That said I knew it was something CF would be uncertain of doing – which is why I gave it, while leaving the actual pairings open.

Either way, I'm sure there will be people who balk at such an idea as this – but I always say fiction is for exploring fictional situations. There's nothing wrong with topics such as these, so long as it's not for gratuitous purposes. This is never played for p*** or smut, and the concept of romance with a minor is a core conflict point – so it's good.

The jealousy dynamic between Ruby and Yang was nice, especially in that Yang never hates her sister – but I do have to say I might have liked to see a little more jealousy from Yang. This is her immaturity stage, and the thing is… you can love someone to pieces, and still be jealous of them – I don't feel the two are as mutually exclusive as some people believe. Maybe some bitter moments where Yang genuinely feels a little anger towards Ruby, before almost immediately hating herself for feeling it. Emotions are complex and frustrating, and this would be a chance to highlight that – especially for someone going through puberty.

There is some suggestion of the above, in Yang taking out frustrations on Jaune – I'd just ask for some solo ones too, where she festers on her own in their room.

I also feel like… well… Yang needs an age – because I get that CF is saying she might be 15 – but also might be younger, but sometimes the messages get a little mixed. Comments like "I*** is icky, love is good" make her sound super-young… like ten or so. I imagine her more at 14.5-15 in my mind, but then that could be incompatible with the puberty angle CF wants.

Things to think on, I don't have the answer.

The next arc is nicely done, I really do find mini-Yang adorable by the way, and could literally read an entire story of her and Ruby just growing up xD – just friend/family fluff.

I also think that Jaune's reactions shouldn't ever be considered exploitative or cruel. There's a wonderful bit CF included about how "considering how Ruby treated his crush, he wasn't about to do the same to Yang." The point is that yes – it can be awkward – but Jaune's acceptance of it does make sense in the context here. Young kids often get crushes on older people, and most of the time they grow out of them. Jaune doesn't ever encourage it – which is the right option. But when they start growing up? If they then stick to them as they reach adulthood? Well… that's a different story, isn't it?

At the end of the day, there's what, 2-3 years max difference between them? A big deal at 16, less so at 20 – a downright joke difference at 25+

The team coming together to help Yang was sweet – even if I can imagine Ruby making sure to "punish" Blake for accidentally getting Yang into mature content.

I like this story, I genuinely do – it's not got enough conflict to be a romantic drama, and honestly it's more of a feel-good romance with a light flecking of morality issues. Much like Artist, the underage thing is never taken so far that it becomes a big conflict point – but you don't always need that. Jaune internally angsts, yes – and there's some suggestion that others judge him. But never the risk of imprisonment or some terrible consequence.  
Mini-Yang really is adorable xD

Although I will pout a little when her arm still gets chopped off, leading to a period where she goes into a depression – Ruby blames herself (increased rift with Taiyang), and Jaune finally gets his own chance to stick up for Yang. Of course this could cause further clashes with Tai, who doesn't approve of a relationship with his underage daughter – even as Jaune is the only one really able to get through to the girl in her shell-shocked state.

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C.F.'s Reflection:

Not a bad idea, not a bad idea. If I'm already willing to imply a sexually active minor (ugh- let's hide behind the defense of 'art'), maiming one shouldn't be much worse. It'd definitely set up post-Season 3 bitter-sweet angst-fluff. Where Ruby is in her angst-comma after seeing her second love die, and Yang has the invincibility of Youth shattered, and Jaune has to deal with the fallout at Taiyang is angry and lashing out at him and Ruby.

Overall... despite the clearly uncomfortable subject for me, I actually liked storyline and concept. I even felt the relationship was appropriate. Depiction isn't endorsement, but Jaune went through the choice about as reasonably as he could. There might- there could be- trouble in the short term, but the age difference really isn't that much in the long term. Jaune takes the decision seriously- and just as relevantly, he takes Yang seriously. And by the end, Yang is a young adult rather than just a child. I've always felt that maturity is more about your manner of thinking than your age- there are children who are responsible for the upbringing of their own siblings, and grown adults little more than petulant man-children. While Yang does start immature- the expression of booboos was more to emphasize this than an actual literalism of what she'd say- she matures as the story goes.

One of the points I wanted to make was how Yang was growing up, and getting closer to what we'd recognize. That was both physically (I never comitted to an age because what 'late' puberty is plausible means varies- and has varied across time and cultures) and in terms of character. Ruby clearly starts as a girl on a bicycle dreaming it was a motorcycle, but it's only towards the end that she starts cracking puns and being adaucious and even sexual. Jaune might not know it yet, but he'll have a real bombshell on his hands in a few years. He didn't miss his chance, even if that's why he took it, and for at least one of these Forbidden pieces I wanted an unquestionably happy ending. Ruby was about impossible loves, Pyrrha had the theme of struggle and potential, and Yang was growing into love.

Overall? I like this more than I thought I would. I probably won't write anymore of it, but I could see where I would. Prequel bits of Ruby raising Yang are obvious. Maybe not as light-hearted as Coeur thinks- Ruby's poor relationship with Taiyang is implicitly because he was worse for longer- but certainly tender moments. And Season 3 has ready plots and trials for the romances. Jaune and Yang dealing with their unexpectedly fast relationship and public reception. The disapproval of some of their peers is one thing- the disapproval of the world (and Qrow and Taiyang) would be another, though Ruby can at least help with the later. Ruby and Pyrrha getting closer, held back by the considerations of the tournament and favoritism, but coming close just in time for a tragic climax. Possibly even with Ruby, not Pyrrha, being the potential maiden candidate, and Pyrrha risking and losing it all to save her from Cinder. And then there's the finale- where Ruby grieves, Yang recovers, and Jaune stays by both of them and deals with Taiyang.

Good potential overall. Few regrets, even with the uneasy topic.


	67. Valentines: The Other Side of the Boot

The Writer Games (Or Something)

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Coeur's Prompt- Crack Pairing: Blake x Roman

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C.F.'s Fill:

The Other Side of the Boot

The Faunus didn't rebel- they conquered. A century later, White Fang special agent Blake Beladonna investigates a conspiracy that threatens to topple the status quo, and the smuggler who holds the key to saving it.

Concept - An AU story of Faunus Rebellion that didn't simply rebel against enslavement or marginalization, but conquered the humans in turn and established as a status quo as bad or worse than canon as a racial oligarchy lives in fear of being overthrown. Tensions are high, and the faunus elite fear the consequences of a Human Rebellion.

Beat 1 – The Hook – Why the protagonist needs/wants romance.

Blake is a member of the White Fang, one of the two elite police/peace-keeping units of the Animal Kingdoms. The Fangs (the White Fang and Red Fang) were created to protect against human terrorism against the Faunus regime, and its primary enemy are the Hunters- the rebel-insurgent-heroes of Human legend who lead a resistance from the Grimm lands. The White Fang is responsible for policing and the protection of faunus, while the Red Fang is responsible for counter-insurgency and fighting Hunters. Despite its founding purpose, the White Fang has a reputation of refusing to target innocent humans, with a motto of 'Our Fang Bites the Guilty.' The White Fang does not target or terrorize innocent civilians. The Red Fang has fewer objections, and is an ends-justify-the-means organization. Adam is a member of the Red Fang, and believes that peace requires a certain amount of fear. Blake herself is an idealist of the White Fang, and views her role as protecting the innocent of both races, with the White Fang's victories preventing the Red Fang from ever being needed.

Blake's idealism tars her as a human sympathizer, or even a human-lover. That's a serious charge in a time where race tensions rise. Despite her denials to the contrary, Blake does seem to dismiss all the interested faunus sniffing around- and appreciate the human male form. Blake's persistent suitor is fellow White Fang member Sun, who is a bit too nice for her taste.

Beat 2 – The Meeting – The two characters meet and an attraction, or reason for one, is established.

Blake gets a mission to investigate a new subversive conspiracy. The Queen Conspiracy threatens to spark a Human Rebellion. The White Fang and Red Fang are at odds on how to address it. The Red Fang believes racial war is inevitable, and that they need to strike first. The White Fang believes new but slow-moving reforms will eventually work, and that catching Queen will buy time. Blake's mission, since she can hide her faunus heritage, is to infiltrate and find Queen.

Her lead, and key into Queen's conspiracy, is Roman Torchwick. Roman is a smuggler, and has stolen and supported the resistance before. He's also eager to save his own neck, and is willing to cut a deal since he was captured. Blake is given a leash of sorts- a means to kill Roman remotely if he misbehaves or rebels- and the two begin their undercover mission.

Beat 3 – Conflict Point 1 – Wherein the protagonist realises they should not be together, as it conflicts with their goal/dream/beliefs.

Blake 'breaks out' Roman, and does tasks to win the trust of the resistance. Though she's nominally in control, it's soon clear that her leash has little use- Blake won't kill Roman so easily, and so can't keep him in line with threats. Roman is rude, condescending, and makes light of her age, inexperience, and idealism. Many of Roman's 'tasks' are to prove a point by making Blake look at the underside of the faunus kingdom- of exploited or ignored Humans- rather than the romanticized vision Blake has.

Despite Roman's banter, he is attractive- and he knows Blake sees watches for more than just security. Roman taunts her with her literature and teases her by making a show, flustering Blake even as he runs her up the walls. Blake is embarrassed, even as Roman annoys her, but also even as Roman's experience and leading her around shows her things she never knew.

The reversal comes when Roman himself is aroused- and is caught by Blake. Blake teases in turn, and a more equal dynamic picks up as Blake counter-taunts Roman. There's a physical tension that both know, but neither would be foolish enough to embrace.

Beat 4 – Raising the stakes – Wherein the two characters are bound together, despite the conflict. They accept their love/relationship/attraction.

Blake and Roman get into the Resistance, and the Hunters. The canon cast of Beacon provides most of them, and the Teams are there and they all have their sob stories. JNPR is a bunch of orphans, with Jaune being the newest (and weakest) recruit while Pyrrha is a legendary insurgent who has lost every partner she ever had. Yang and Ruby are half-faunus- even though they could fit into the kingdom, the discrimination drove away (Yang) or killed (Ruby) their mothers. Weiss gets special note- the Schnees are some of the leading human collaborators, and Weiss's presence is either a rebellion against her father's part in subjugating human workers, or proof of a Schnee-Resistance ling that's long been supported.  
At the top of the tower are the teachers- and Cinder. Cinder is the unquestioned leader of the rebellion, and the most wanted human on Remnant. Not only is Cinder the full Fall Maiden- with all of the powers- but she has a devoted following amongst the hardliners of the rebellion. Practically a cult of personality, Cinder promises liberation and demands only obedience.

Cinder leads the resistance, and has ties enough with Roman to trust him about Blake. Roman is tasked (with Blake and the Teams supporting) to seize weapons and equipment. Cinder's intent is clear- revolution. Roman is the star smuggler, a hero of the resistance, and most of the younger Hunters (Blake's canon friends) look up to and admire him as a dashing rogue and rebel.  
Blake takes part, needing to trace the outlines of this revolution and to get closer to Cinder. As she accomplishes missions, she gains the trust and comraderie of the Teams. Rather than blood-thirsty racist Hunters that she suspected, none of the teams are crying out for faunus blood. They oppose the regime, not the faunus- though some racists like Cardin suggest otherwise. Mostly, though, they want to be left alone- the Animal Kingdom ignores Humans for the most part, and the resistance largely springs from the crackdowns that occur when the Animal Kingdom gets nervous. Blake starts to realize that the Red Fang isn't an unwanted but possible solution- it's the cause of the continued resistance. Blake starts to question her mission, and the Fang, and wants to help the humans.

During this time, Blake and Roman are close as it actually falls on Roman to remind Blake of her mission. As people grow suspicious of their frequent alone time, they make the cover of being in a relationship- and Blake is lead by a subtly manipulative Roman into, hey, why not fake with the real thing? Blake and Roman sleep together, more mutual lust than personal attraction, and it's supposed to be over the next morning after they're 'discovered' by friends.

Blake just watches him afterwards because she has to. And the follow-up sex later is just keeping the cover, or stress relief from a long mission.

Beat 5 – Conflict Point 2 – The relationship looks good, all is working, but there is niggling doubt. The conflict continues to gnaw away at them, it's a false happiness.

Blake and Roman have a physical relationship that runs into a problem when Roman approaches her for a personal favor. He wants one person to escape the upcoming White Fang crackdown- but he needs to rescue her from prison first. Blake, Roman, and others take part in a jailbreak of Hunters, who will rolled up in the ensuing crackdown. In the course of it they have to disable the collars that would blow them up, and Roman gets his collar released as well. It's a dangerous move, but a risk Blake is willing to take… and then Blake meets Roman's real partner, Neo.

Neo is Roman's partner, and lover, and the ambiguity of what they have with each other- if they actually love each other- bugs Blake because it makes Neo an unknown. Roman doesn't taunt her, but definitely teases her by playing ambiguous. Neo, however, makes clear she intends to reclaim her place- and Blake finds herself continuing her physical relationship with Roman even as Neo does the same. There's jealousy, and rivalry, as Blake realizes she's- gasp- starting to have feelings with the witty, clever, and attractive man- who, for good points, has given her experience and a new perspective.

Neo and Blake's rivalry continues, even as there's a subplot of suspicion for a traitor amongst the Hunters. Blake dodges suspicion as long as she hides her ears, but it's a tension raiser. It comes to a climax- along with the Neo and Blake rivalry- when it's discovered that Neo is the traitor. Neo tries to kill Blake to keep her from spilling the secret, not knowing that Blake is on her side, and they fight- and to Blake's surprise, Roman intervenes and sides with her rather than Neo. Roman is torn, and apologetic, but kills Neo to save Blake.

Grateful to be alive, and wanting to comfort Roman, Blake and Roman have passionate survival sex. When Blake dares kiss Roman after it's over, Roman returns it.

Free, trusted, and feeling safe with Roman, Blake has desires of defecting, even as she knows it's not possible. The morning after, they prepare themselves for their next mission, which is to be the time they betray Cinder and invoke the White Fang.

Beat 6 – The Black Moment – It all goes wrong, all hope is lost. The relationship seems doomed.

The mission goes awry from the start. The White Fang appears to arrest them as plan… except that the sabotage that Blake and Roman were to have prepared doesn't go off. The resistance scatters the White Fang in sight, which reveals the Red Fang laying in wait, waiting in ambush for Cinder.  
Because Cinder's powers as a Maiden are so immense, the Red Fang brings in overwhelming firepower. Collateral damage is immense, even before the killer robots that consider any human a target are released, and it's a blood bath. The Red Fang is indiscriminate as it seeks to kill Cinder and end her rebellion, much to Blake's horror but Cinder's delight. Cinder's plan for a Human Rebellion entails getting the Red Fang involved, and to start an atrocity that will spark a general uprising against the faunus oligarchy. This is exactly what Blake was supposed to prevent… and exactly what happened.  
And it's Roman's fault. As the Hunters and students try to fight the Red Fang and end the massacre, Blake sees Roman slip away and to Cinder's side- and realizes it must have been him who sabotaged her sabotage. The betrayal is further compounded when Roman reveals her race, and her heritage- making her a priority target for Cinder's hardliners.

Blake flees into the chaos, and finds the last remnants of the White Fang, led by Sun. To her surprise, and amazement, the White Fang aren't fighting the Hunters- they're fighting the Red Fang, to protect the innocent humans. As she rejoins her comrades, RWBY and JNPR stumble across her as well- angry at her betrayal, but more angry at the massacre. Seeing the White Fang opposing it stuns them, and Blake is able to broker a cease-fire and common cause as she points to the real enemies- Cinder (for intending this) and the Red Fang (for doing it). With her canon team being the first to believe her, the White Fang and non-hardline Hunters join forces. They're still overwhelmed, though, and the only chance to end it lies with taking the fight to either the Red Fang or Cinder.

Thanks to her powers as a Maiden, Cinder beats the Red Fang herself, setting herself up as a messiah figure for the surviving humans. Adam is the last faunus standing- and in his own way he believes that killing Cinder is necessary to save as many humans as possible by averting a rebellion- but he is crushed. Blake brings the White Fang and her friends against Cinder, and Roman, to call her out and bring her to justice. Cinder responds by calling upon her loyalists, and final battle begins.

Final battle ends when Cinder falls- from a backstab from Roman. Despite (or because?) of a battle-field confrontation with Blake, Roman switches sides- and ensures that when Cinder falls, the last thing she sees is Blake. Blake feels a rush of power, and passes out.

Beat 7 – Resolution – Obstacles overcome, romance achieved, or tragic ending.

Blake wakes up in the smuggler quarters with Roman, who lays it out. Roman was part of a long game with the faunus regime. His goal wasn't to sabotage the rebellion- it will always reform- but it was to steal the powers of the maiden from Cinder. He'd been intending to use Neo, but circumstances happened. Everything else, though- it was a means to stop Cinder.

Roman's a hard guy to place- neither a hero or The Villain, neither a traitor or a double agent. He's a free spirit, and freer now that he's upheld his part of the bargain. Cinder is gone, his leash is removed, and he'll disappear soon enough. The Hunters will retreat to the Grimm Lands once again- occasionally waging resistance, emerging to defend the humans if the Animal Kingdom attacks- but the threat of a race war is gone for the moment. And Blake's come away with quite the prize- the powers of the Maiden, a farewell gift from him to her. With it, she can have the strength to remake the world into a better one, just like she wanted- not have to lie and trick like he did.

Despite her mixed feelings, Blake and Roman have a final sexual encounter, a bit more tender than the rest. Their mission together has come to an end- and though words like 'love' never pass between them, there's a little reluctance before they go. Roman leaves with a sincere compliment- and stealing the ribbon she used as a disguise in exchange for leaving her with the powers of the Maiden. Roman parts by telling her she looks better when she doesn't hide her ears, and they part.

Blake returns to the White Fang a heroine. Her mission was a success- even before she became a Maiden- and because of her there are tentative contacts from her friends the Hunters. The Hunters are reaching out, passing on information of corrupt or abusive government officials- and the White Fang believes that they could further lower tensions, and maybe even reach a detente, by bringing these abusive persons to justice. With the power of a Maiden at their side, a force for reform begins to emerge

It's a busy time ahead, and Blake has final memories of Roman as reports of his activity emerge. Content to focus on her duties rather than him, Blake moves on and considers Sun's invitation for dinner.

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Coeur's Impression:

Hmm, it's not bad - like C.F. says it misses a chance to explore the AU more, but that's fine and something you'd do in execution. In this case, you can just say it's something to explore in the full version, but it wasn't important to plot.

Anyway, I liked a lot of the angles, I think the only thing that felt weak to me was the romance itself - and not the premise, but the emotions, maybe because it was described here in very passive tense, or distant tense, rather. Maybe it would have been more immersive in the interim.

I'd have just like to see a bit more emotion from each of them, maybe a little dependence - after all, they're both in a catch-22 situation, and while sure - Roman has a plan to get out, he can't show that, or he'll be rumbled. I'd also have liked to see a moment where Blake threatens him with the collar - maybe even a few. But early on he capitulates, since he doesn't know her well enough... but at some point (maybe beat 4 ) he refuses, and moves up to take hold of her. Hell, it could be the first sex.

So she is nervous and angry about something - threatens the collar, he argues - she says she'll do it! He grabs her by the shoulders and shouts "do it then!" - Something snaps, they grab each other - make out, collar forgotten as they have sex.

You know, just something to make the collar into a symbol, a symbol of the control she initially has over him, and that same control which she starts to lose (a metaphor for her convictions) over the course of the story.

but these are niggling ways to improve it. :)

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C.F.'s Reflection:

A short one. Proving that it is possible... if I try really, really hard and keep to some vague outline like the beat structure.

The ending was a bit too complex, and got away from me. I wanted a Roman betrayal gambit, which would ultimately put him on the 'good' side after he back-stabbed Cinder, and give Blake a reason to care, but I couldn't think of it.

I don't think this is particularly romantic. More physical than anything else, with only an undercurrent of affection- but not enough to change alliances. Which is alright- this is about a physical relationship, rather than an emotional romance or True Love. Blake is supposed to grow up in various ways thanks to Roman- mentally, physically, maturity- but short summaries and meh arcs only go so far. I thought about trying to have Roman be part of secret conspiracy plan, and fall for Blake for reals in the process of seducing her, but it was too tough come up with, let alone describe, and would have been a mess.

Kind of feel I wasted the AU aspect. Like, I needed it, but I would have rather wrote a different story. (Though I liked the idea of Beacon being a sort of refugee haven in the outskirts, protected from Grimm by the last hunters.) May hit it again from a different angle later on- this 'The faunus didn't rebel, they conquered' is an AU angle I've wanted to hit or give for awhile, but Coeur's so busy with work and his fics that I've yet to give it to him.

Meh overall. Plenty of 'fill in whatever you feel is missing' space, at least.

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Special Note:

Not really an apology, more of an explanation. There were more Valentines week fills to come, but Coeur came down with a case of 'has a life,' 'has work,' and 'just plain sick.' He intends to make up for his when he has the time... whenever that is.

Until then, some other fills from me that have been dangling. This one was the first, deliberately crack pairing for Valentines week before I did Forbidden.

Please enjoy, share your thoughts, and be patient for when Coeur does his. The last one is sure to be the best for laughs.


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